My Worst Enemy--Rewrite
by The Lilac Elf of Lothlorien
Summary: Sometimes your greatest problems come from within rather from outside. Harry Potter knows this only too well, as do his uncle and cousin whom he's lived with almost his entire life. But problems don't always go away once you've solved them and sometimes they reemerge even worse than before. AU! Sick!Harry
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So this rewrite came about because of a message from Shaggy37 and the suggestion that I merge my NCIS storyline from 'What Should Have Been' with Harry Potter. And after a little thinking, I figured that the idea would work brilliantly with a rewrite of THIS story.

As with a lot of my rewrites I'm going to be changing things up from the original. The main thing being that instead of Harry living with the Dursleys he'll be living with Gibbs and Kelly.

STORY SUMMARY: Sometimes your greatest problems come from within rather from outside. Harry Potter knows this only too well, as do his uncle and cousin whom he's lived with almost his entire life. But problems don't always go away once you've solved them and sometimes they reemerge even worse than before.

* * *

HARRY POTTER: My Worst Enemy-Rewrite

(NCIS Crossover)

* * *

Ziva David loved running early in the morning. Especially when it was that time of day when not even the sun was up and most of the world was still asleep. She would get up, dress for the current weather along with a yellow windbreaker, and enjoy a 3-6 mile run before going into NCIS—The Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

She enjoyed these runs even more so after Gibbs had come back to NCIS after a temporary retirement. After nearly dying in an explosion which had left him with temporary amnesia, Gibbs had gone down to Mexico to stay at the home of his former boss and mentor, Mike Franks who had built a house on a beach down there. After the explosion, Ziva had lapsed on her morning runs, sometimes getting up later and sometimes skipping the run all together.

But the first morning after Gibbs was reinstated, Ziva had woken at 3:45 in the morning and when her shoes hit the paved trail, all the worries, the memories of being on the run from Mossad, the FBI, and NCIS and everything else that had happened flew from her mind and moments later she was back in her old rhythm.

Yes, life was back to normal now, or as normal as it ever was.

As she passed another jogger, Ziva's musings drifted from Gibbs to his family. Gibbs and his only daughter, Kelly, had always had an extremely close relationship from what Ziva could see and there was little doubt that their bonds were in large part to the death of Gibbs' first wife, Shannon when the young girl was 8 years old.

When her father had left for Mexico, Kelly had been absolutely devastated and to make matters worse, she'd collapsed at work—a library a mere two blocks from NCIS headquarters—not even a week later.

When she was 11, Kelly had been diagnosed with a rare muscle disorder that caused her legs to get weaker and weaker. The disorder was called Tibialis Posterior Atrophy and at first had manifested as an odd shuffling gait and clumsiness when Kelly walked. But after a year, Gibbs had taken his little girl to the doctors who had diagnosed the condition.

By the time she was in high school, she'd needed braces and eventually crutches to walk, something that had weighed very heavily on Gibbs as he watched his only child slowly lose her mobility. And even though Kelly's condition had been stabilized for the past 8 years and she'd even seemed to be walking just marginally better, the doctors had warned that Kelly's legs would eventually get worse and she wouldn't be able to walk at all.

Sure enough, Kelly had been at work—reshelving returned items, actually, when her legs buckled and she fell to the floor. After two days in the hospital going through tests and scans to make sure she hadn't received any other injuries, Kelly was allowed to leave the hospital but she left in a wheelchair since the disorder had completely weakened her legs.

Distracted from her thoughts as she caught a glimpse of something lying by a tree, Ziva slowed to a stop and tentatively walked over to the body of a young man about 16 years old. It only took her a second to recognize the messy black hair as belonging to Gibbs' nephew, Harry Potter. Looking around to see if there was anyone about, Ziva grabbed her cellphone and dialed as she knelt down and checked the teenager for a pulse. It was present and strong which made the agent feel a bit more relieved, but something about all this bothered her. Why was Harry out here in the first place? _How _did he get out here? Did Gibbs know his nephew was outside over night?

Hearing a voice on the other end of the line, the mossad officer pulled herself back to the present and said to her partner, "Tony, it's Ziva. I need you to get here as soon as you can. Have Abby track my cellphone." After hanging up, Ziva called 911 before looking around to see if there was anyone who might have seen something.

The few joggers and bystanders hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary but at the same time they hadn't really been paying attention. As much as that bothered Ziva, she couldn't deny that it was fairly common for civilians.

x

15 minutes later, Ziva saw her partner, Anthony DiNozzo jogging up followed by the paramedics who were also bringing a stretcher and various equipment from the ambulance which was parked 20 feet away. "Morning, Ziva. Want to tell me what happened?" Tony asked as he stood next to her and pulled out a small memo pad and a pen to take notes. Even though Ziva had only called him since he was her partner, he knew Gibbs would ask for a formal report later. He stopped, though, when he saw Harry lying unconscious on the ground as the paramedics assessed the boy's possible injuries. "Ziva, what happened?" Tony asked again, more urgently this time.

Tony had taken to Harry as soon as he'd met the kid and over the years, the NCIS agent had considered himself Harry's unofficial uncle/big brother. The two would watch movies on the weekends or just hang out. In fact, Harry was already dating his best friend from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hermione Granger who was widely considered the smartest student in the past 15 years.

Watching as the paramedics wrote down Harry's vitals and started an IV line, Tony hastily took a note or two when Ziva described the morning.

"I was on my morning run," Ziva reported, knowing the reason Tony seemed distracted. "I saw something by the tree. I thought maybe someone left their jacket but when I went to investigate…."

"Turns out to be Gibbs' nephew," Tony added, looking at the paramedics again, concerned for Harry. "How is he?"

"Alive," one of the paramedics replied. "He has a bunch of bruises on his right leg and face but no broken bones that we could discern."

"Abuse?" Ziva wondered aloud. She knew the more evil members of the wizarding world wanted Harry dead. Could a Death Eater have abducted Harry and tortured him? Had the teenager been left for dead?

One of the paramedics shook his head, slowly, at Ziva's question. "Does the kid have a history of illness?" he asked, warily. He'd seen bruises related to abuse before—especially after they'd had ample time to develop—and the marks on the unconscious teenager didn't look like abuse.

Tony and Ziva exchanged a look before Tony nodded, slowly. "Cancer when he was 8," he replied, a sick feeling coming over him as he looked at Harry one last time before the kid was loaded into the ambulance. "But he's been in remission since he was 10…"

"I think remission is over," the paramedic said, sadly. "The bruises don't look like their from an impact. They look more like internal bruising."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Harry Potter started to regain consciousness he could immediately tell he was in a hospital and that was never a good thing…especially for him.

He'd been just over a year old and living in England when an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort had murdered his parents before somehow disappearing after trying to kill him. With his parents gone, Harry had become an orphan and the question became who would take care of him. His father, James, had been an only child and his paternal grandparents had died some years before.

Lily Potter, on the other hand, still had her grandmother and two sisters when she'd died and after consulting the Potters' will, Harry had been placed in the care of Lily's younger sister, Shannon.

And so, a week after the murder of his parents, Harry had been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the States who had been more than delighted to take the child in. More than that, Shannon had immediately petitioned to formally adopt Harry as her own child, overjoyed at the prospect of increasing the family.

A short time after those events, Harry had been in a car crash that had killed his Aunt Shannon and had nearly killed him and his cousin, Kelly. Shannon had witnessed the murder of a United States Marine and while the police tried to apprehend the killer, the Naval Investigative Service had placed the Gibbs family. But the killer had taken a shot at the NIS agent protecting Shannon and her children one day while the lot was in the minivan Gibbs had bought after Harry had come along, and while Kelly had ended up in a coma for nearly 3 months before waking up, Harry had barely a scratch on him, likely owing to being strapped tightly into his car seat.

With Shannon gone, Jethro Gibbs had left the Marine Corps and had begun working at NIS—renamed NCIS later that same year. And while he had tried remarrying once, when that had fallen through he had instead decided to focus on Harry and Kelly. Life was relatively uneventful for the family and eventually each found their own routines.

But when Harry was 8 years old, he'd fallen on the playground of his elementary school and when the bruise and swelling around his right leg hadn't gone away after more than a month, his Uncle Jethro had taken him to the doctor who had diagnosed him with bone cancer.

It had been a scary time and Kelly had spent as much time as she could by Harry's bedside since he was practically her brother.

After surgery to remove the tumor in his leg and more than 2 years of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Harry had finally gone into remission but the prospect that the cancer would come back always loomed in his mind, making him paranoid about every single bump and bruise.

Those fears were now in the forefront of his mind as he tried to think of what had happened that could have landed him in the hospital. Harry remembered going to bed the night before after finishing the last of his summer assignments for Hogwarts and then… And then he'd woken up in the hospital just moments ago… What had happened in between? Why couldn't he remember anything else?

"Hey, you're awake…" a pleasant, female voice said, cutting into Harry's thoughts.

Harry blinked as he saw a blurry form looking at him. Unable to make the person out clearly, he asked, "Who are you?"

"Dr. Jeanne Benoit," the woman replied, handing Harry his glasses which had been sitting on the bedside table. After he put them on she started the usual series of questions designed to ascertain a patients mental status. "What's your name?"

"Harry Potter," Harry replied, wondering if maybe he had a concussion. That would make sense, especially considering his left eye was still very fuzzy.

"Good. And where are you from?" Jeanne asked as she checked Harry's pulse. So far the teenager seemed to be a good shape—his vitals were good and he seemed alert and oriented.

"Washington, DC," Harry replied, turning his head a bit so he could see the doctor better as she moved to his left side. But when she gave him a concerned look as she noticed the way he was looking at her, he commented, "My left eye is really blurry."

Jeanne checked both the teenager's eyes and frowned slightly before asking, "Any pain?"

Not liking the possible choices as a result of telling the truth, Harry hesitated before nodding. "It's just a headache… like right behind the eyes. And my right leg feels a little sore." When the doctor drew back the blankets exposing his legs, Harry's heart sank when he saw the familiar bruises on his right leg. It was the same kind of bruising that he'd had 7 years ago. Closing his eyes when he felt the tears welling up in his eyes, Harry only caught snatches of what Dr. Benoit said as she mentioned tests and something about contacting his family.

After a moment to think, Harry finally rattled off his phone number and his uncle's name before turning away from the doctor. He didn't need any tests or medical confirmation to know that the cancer was back. He knew in his gut that he was sick again and dreaded the coming months. There would likely be surgery to remove the tumor followed by multiple rounds of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy—the second being less awful than the chemo. But that would be if Harry was lucky. If he wasn't—which often seemed to be the case with him—there was a chance he might end up losing his leg…or worse—his life.

But Harry wasn't only thinking of himself. He also thought about his uncle and cousin—well, Dad and sister, really.

Kelly and Jethro Gibbs had always tried to make Harry feel as welcome into the family as possible, even after Shannon's death. Kelly would be there after a nightmare and Gibbs never missed a chance to teach his nephew something—whether it was one of Gibbs' Rules or something as simple as throwing a baseball around. Bottom line, it seemed, was that Harry was Gibbs' son and anyone who ever met the two could hardly tell the difference.

When Harry had first been diagnosed with cancer, it had hit Gibbs hard but at the same time, the former Marine had been nothing but supportive. He'd gone to Harry's treatments when at all possible and if not, he'd made sure that one of the nurses sat with him. Even Kelly would sit with Harry while he was in the hospital or at the outpatient clinic—although this had led to a record number of school absences resulting in Kelly's attending summer school the two years Harry was sick.

And now his family would have to go through the whole mess all over again.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Harry willed himself to try and push everything aside and rest.

xxxx

Jeanne headed for the nurses' station after drawing blood samples from Harry and making a note on the teenager's chart that a bone marrow biopsy was also needed. She hated seeing the look on the teenager's face—that expression that was resignation mixed with fear and depression—and made a mental note to try again to get a hold of Harry's family. Someone needed to be here with the kid.

After dropping off the blood samples to be sent to the lab and telling one of the nurses about the biopsy, Jeanne heard footsteps behind her and turned to a man and a woman standing there. "Can I help you?" she asked, sizing up the pair. They didn't look like potentials for Harry's family but perhaps these were the two cops who had found the teenager. That seemed possible especially since the woman had on a jogging outfit.

The man smiled as he pulled out a badge and displayed his ID as he replied, "I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and this—" He added, indicating the woman who pulled out her own badge and flipped it open. "—is Officer Ziva David. We're with NCIS. Can you tell us what's going on Harry?"

"You're the two who found him in the park this morning?" Jeanne asked. She found it just a little odd that the two agents knew her patient's name already and wanted to know exactly how much they knew about him but Officer David seemed to sense the question.

"Harry is our boss's nephew," Ziva explained, simply. "I-I was the one who found him in the park this morning while I was on my morning run. Is he going to be okay?"

"Before you start on the confidentiality thing," Tony added, seeing the argument on the doctor's face. "—we _are_ Harry's family."

Despite the honest expression on Agent DiNozzo's face, Jeanne still hesitated for a moment. Patient information was confidential unless the people asking were actually immediate family. But at the same time she could see in Agent DiNozzo's eyes that he viewed Harry as being as good as his own kin. "Are you aware of Harry's medical history?" she asked, curiously.

Ziva nodded once in reply. "We know about Harry's cancer history. Tony was a probationary agent under Gibbs at the time," she added, knowing the doctor was likely looking for further information on whether they could be considered 'extended family'. But the idea that this doctor was bringing up Harry's medical history immediately had Ziva fearing the worst. "Has he relapsed, then?" she asked, being straightforward.

"We don't know for sure, yet," Jeanne replied, even though her every medical instinct was telling her that Harry had relapsed. "We have to wait for the blood tests and biopsy results to come back first.

As Jeanne headed for the elevators after excusing herself, Tony said to Ziva, "I'm going to give Gibbs a sit-rep on Harry. Stay here and keep an eye on the kid. Call me as soon as you know something."

"I'll call Kelly as well," Ziva added, nodding. "She should know what's going on, too."

* * *

_Darby, England_

Hermione Granger couldn't concentrate.

Usually, when it came to schoolwork, she had a laser-focus and could blow through all of her summer assignments in a single week—if she took her time and went a little extra…which she usually did.

As a muggleborn student—a 'mudblood' as some of the students liked to call her—Hermione always felt like she had to do better in her classes than anyone else. Well, not just because of the muggleborn issue, she had to admit. According to her parents, ever since she was a baby, Hermione had always seemed to absorb every little bit of information possible. She'd learned to talk way sooner than anyone expected and always seemed to be a quick study at anything she did.

But all that knowledge and retention of information was what was leading Hermione to be incredibly distracted.

At the end of their 4th year at Hogwarts, Harry had seemed tired and he also seemed to be limping ever so slightly. And while most of the other students hadn't noticed, Hermione's keen eye had taken in everything.

Something was wrong with her best friend—that much was certain. And considering that Harry had started Hogwarts only a few weeks after finishing chemotherapy treatments—the lack of hair had been a dead giveaway—it was only too easy for Hermione to come to the most likely conclusion.

Giving up on further studying, Hermione packed up her trunk and headed downstairs to talk to her parents about going to spend the summer in Washington, DC. Harry's Uncle Jethro had issued the invitation at Christmas this past year and Hermione knew she wouldn't be able to focus on her homework until she saw her best friend.

* * *

A/N: I DO plan on getting back to some of my other stories but it will be a while since I lost my original computer files. So I'm having to read through my old stuff and make some new notes. Please bear with me and I'll get back to somewhat regular posting soon.


	2. Chapter 2

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This chapter took a while mainly because I really wanted to get some backstory and emotion going. I also needed to redo some research on the medical aspects which, as always, I try to explain as best as possible since I'm not a member of the medical community.

As for my other stories, I will be getting back to them eventually but since my muse wants to work on this one first, I'm going with it. Though if there are some of my stories you'd like to adopt, as always, let me know.

Chapter 2

* * *

_NCIS Headquarters_

_Washington, DC_

NCIS Director Jennifer Sheppard sat in her office, thinking about one of her best agents.

She'd met Leroy Jethro Gibbs when she'd first joined NCIS and sparks flew between them immediately. They made a great team in the field and over the years they'd become close friends as well as lovers. Every year for the past decade, they discussed the idea of marriage and while in the past they had decided against it, these days Jenny found herself looking forward to the face-to-face times with Gibbs.

But being with Gibbs in a romantic sense was very tricky these days since she was the Director of NCIS and therefore had to be careful that the relationship didn't affect her job or Gibbs'.

Not only that, but being with Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not without complications. First there was his daughter, Kelly, whose mother had been Gibbs' first wife, Shannon. From what she'd been able to find out, Jethro and Shannon had met when he'd just joined the Marine Corps and she'd been heading out to Virginia for college. One train ride later and the two had fallen deeply in love.

Two years later, the couple had married and 9 months after that, Kelly had been born and always seemed to act like a carbon copy of her father which was a good and a bad thing.

And then there was Gibbs' nephew—Harry Potter.

Ever since the deaths of James and Lily Potter, everyone in the Wizarding world knew the boy's name. Jenny could remember reading the _World Wand News_—the US version of the British newspaper _The Daily Prophet_—and just staring in shock at the news that Voldemort was gone. Not forever, as it had turned out, but 13 years of severely diminished Death Eater attacks was nothing to sneeze at.

After his parents' deaths, Harry had been sent to live with Lily Potter's younger sister, Shannon, and seemed to fit like a glove in the Gibbs Family.

Hearing someone knocking on the door brought her out of her myriad of thoughts and Jenny looked up to see Tony DiNozzo cautiously entering the room. Straightening up and trying to look less like she'd just spent 30 minutes daydreaming, she said, a little too sharply, "Something I can help you with, Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony nodded, quietly, his expression somber as he entered the director's office and closed the door behind him before sitting across from his boss's girlfriend. Oh, the two tried to play it casual, but anyone with eyes could see that Jethro Gibbs and Jenny Sheppard were more than just workplace friends. After a moment, Tony said, "Gibbs wanted me to tell you he's taking some personal time. Family crisis."

Knowing that there was only one thing that could get Leroy Jethro Gibbs to take time off of work, Jenny asked, "Kelly or Harry?"

"Harry," Tony replied, quietly. With anyone else he would have left it at that but knowing that the director was not only a witch but also an alumna of Hogwarts herself, he explained. "Just spoke with the Chief Director of our favorite magical government and she had a report for me about some very interesting magical activity last night. Somehow Harry apparated out of the house last night and ended up unconscious in Rock Creek Park."

The magical government DiNozzo had referred to was the Federal Bureau of International Non-Mundane Affairs and was the most powerful government agency in the world—even more powerful than the muggle US government, and a place Jenny had worked after graduating from Hogwarts and while she'd been studying at Waldron Graduate School—the wizarding college.

It had been the death of her father, however, that had pushed Jenny from a magical career and into NCIS. She'd wanted revenge for her father's murder—even though it had appeared to be a suicide. Still, despite the drastic career change, she'd maintained good relations with the FBINA.

Turning her attentions back to Harry Potter, Jenny felt a prickle of dread on the back of her neck as she took in DiNozzo's expression. "Is he okay?" Jenny wanted to know, even though she knew there had to be something wrong with the teenager, especially since most witches and wizards Harry's age could do apparition without splinching themselves.

Tony leaned back in his chair, shaking his head, sadly. Dr. Benoit had rushed Harry's tests and had just called with the results while Tony had been on his way to brief the director about Gibbs. The doctor had been brief and had assured the NCIS agent that she'd double checked the test results but the news wasn't good. "Harry's relapsed," Tony said, sadly. "We're not gonna know exactly how bad till the MRI results are in."

"Gibbs and Kelly are at the hospital?" Jenny asked, thinking quickly as she stood.

DiNozzo didn't even need to ask why the director was asking. He just stood silently and escorted the woman out of the office and towards the elevator.

* * *

Kelly's gut had been twitching since Christmas.

It was something she got from her father—that little extra sense inside that told her that something was off, wrong, or what have you. And just like with her dad, Kelly's gut had never been wrong yet.

And for the past 6 months, she'd had a bad feeling that something was very wrong with Harry—and she wasn't just talking about with the TriWizard Tournament. Although that had led to endless worrying from both Kelly AND her father. Gibbs had actually gone to Hogwarts demanding that Harry be exempt from the competition and when that didn't work, he'd stayed at the school, keeping an eye on his nephew.

But none of the mess of the tournament or Voldemort's return was what was triggering Kelly's gut and it bothered her that she couldn't put her finger on the problem.

Then Ziva had called.

Kelly had been working on checking out materials for some of the library patrons when the phone rang, sending a cold chill down her spine. When one of the other librarians had taken the call, Kelly paused in her duties, especially when she caught the other woman's gaze.

"Kelly… It's for you. It's Agent David."

Kelly had taken the phone cautiously, knowing that this wasn't likely to be good news. It wasn't. After an abbreviated conversation, Ziva had promised to be at the library before Kelly could even get to the curb. For most people this would be an exaggeration, but with Ziva David, it was most often accurate.

Sure enough, the mossad officer had just brought her Mini Cooper to a squealing stop just as Kelly had gotten outside, her bag strap slung over her shoulder so the bag itself was sitting on Kelly's lap.

Within what seemed like moments, Ziva and Kelly had gotten to Georgetown University Hospital and the younger woman was quickly wheeling through the elevator doors and onto the pediatrics floor. Heading towards Harry's room, Kelly stopped when she saw an older woman further down the hallway, her heart sinking as she recognized the doctor.

In the car, Kelly had tried to hold out some hope that this was all just an overreaction and that nothing was going on… that Harry was okay. But seeing her cousin's oncologist made everything seem more real, especially when Dr. Grace Willis went into Harry's room.

Jethro Gibbs and Dr. Jeanne Benoit were also in Harry's room when Ziva and Kelly entered the room and it was only a moment before Gibbs hugged his daughter before going to stand next to Harry's bed, putting a hand on the teenager's shoulder before turning to Dr. Willis.

"Harry's blood tests showed a large amount of abnormal cells," Dr. Willis reported. Turning to her patient, her expression was grim as she added, "We need to get an MRI of your leg to see what kind of tumor regrowth we're looking at here. I also want to check and see if the fuzziness in your left eye is being caused by metastasis."

It was so very different hearing the news as a teenager as opposed to as a little kid, Harry thought, numbly, as he heard the report. When he'd first been sick, all he'd really known was that there was something in his body slowly trying to kill him. But now Harry knew far more about his disease and what could happen to him and it made him all the more fearful about what would happen next.

What was even worse was that he now had a better understanding of what would happen next. First, there would be surgery to remove the tumor in his leg—or possibly amputation depending—then if the cancer had spread to his eye…

"So what happens now?" Ziva was asking the doctors when Harry pulled himself away from his thoughts. The Israeli NCIS agent caught Harry's eye and she noticed that the teenager seemed more afraid than she had ever seen him.

"If the osteosarcoma in Harry's leg is treatable, then we'll remove it surgically and then start chemotherapy," Dr. Willis replied, matter-of-factly. She wanted to offer some comfort to Harry and his family but at the same time, she hated being one of those doctors who built up patients with false hopes. "Best case… Harry should be good as new in 10-28 months."

"What about worst case?" Kelly asked, grimly. When Harry had first gone into remission, she remembered the oncologist talking about what would happen if the cancer came back but wanted to hear it from the doctor herself. Kelly—like Harry and Gibbs—needed to know what they were dealing with and what needed to be done if Harry's condition was critical.

The oncologist looked at the assembled group and let out a long, deep sigh before considering her answer. She wasn't sure if Kelly was angling for 'likely worst' or 'absolute worst' but decided honesty was the best way to go. "Depending on how bad the tumor regrowth is, it is very possible that Harry could lose his leg… and his eye as well, if that's also affected by the cancer. If the osteosarcoma has grown into the bone deep enough to reach the marrow… Harry's odds aren't going to be good. In that situation, we'll have to start looking at much more aggressive treatment."

"You're talking bone marrow transplant, right?" Harry said, not meeting anyone's eyes. Catching glimpses of his family, Harry felt tears in his eyes as he felt his uncle sit on the bed next to him before pulling him closer in a one-armed hug. "And, uh… if… if that doesn't… If it's…" Harry couldn't even voice the full thought in his mind, let alone out loud.

Dr. Willis knew full well what Harry was getting at and she just replied, quietly, "Maybe 2 years… likely less."

Harry was crying fully now as he lay back in the hospital bed. He turned away from Gibbs, closing his eyes and sobbing himself into a fitful slumber.

xx

Gibbs stayed with Harry after everyone else left the room and couldn't help but think about how this boy had changed almost everything in his life. Gibbs and Shannon had wanted more kids after Kelly but it had never seemed to work and after a while, they'd resigned themselves to the fact that they would be a one child family.

Then, on a cold, rainy November night, an older woman dressed in green wearing matching robes and a cloak had come to the house. Gibbs had been deployed at the time but Shannon had been up when Minerva McGonagall had arrived. The witch carefully explained the situation—that Shannon's sister, Lily, was dead and that the small child—Harry—needed somewhere safe to stay where he could be protected. Because Lily had given her life to save her son, she had given him a blood protection but it was an old magic that needed to be maintained by Harry living with someone who had a blood relationship to him.

Lily's older sister, Petunia, had flat-out refused to take the child in—even when the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore, had personally explained the situation.

But Shannon had immediately taken Harry into her arms, rocking him gently and singing quietly. When Kelly had met her cousin, she, too, had taken to the small boy.

When Gibbs had come home on leave, he was shocked to hear the story of his sister-in-law but as he watched Harry sleeping in Kelly's old crib, the Marine smiled warmly and put a hand on the child's back as he promised, "I'll always be here for you, Harry. Always."

It was a promise Gibbs had been resolute to keep, even when Shannon had been murdered and Albus Dumbledore had stopped by saying that—because Shannon was dead—the protections surrounding Harry were most likely compromised. In order to keep Harry safe, Dumbledore explained, he needed to be placed with Harry's only other living relative on his mother's side—Petunia Dursley.

Gibbs' expression had turned stony at that news and his sharp blue eyes met the headmaster's. "You are _not_ taking my nephew from me," Gibbs said, simply, his tone indicating that he wasn't about to argue the point.

But Dumbledore knew that despite Leroy Jethro Gibbs' best intentions, the Marine was not a blood relative of Harry Potter and therefore wouldn't be able to shield his nephew from harm. It wasn't as though Dumbledore liked the idea of handing Harry over to the Dursleys—in fact, after watching the family for a while, the aged wizard had understood that the home would probably be the worst place for the boy. But blood was blood and it was that bond that was needed. And Gibbs simply didn't have it.

When Harry stirred restlessly in his sleep, Gibbs' thoughts were pulled back to the present momentarily as he studied the teenager, smiling sadly. Harry was one of the top students in his class and despite whatever teasing and ridicule he got from other students at Hogwarts, he never let it harden him. He was brave, kind, and one of the strongest people Gibbs had ever known… just like Kelly and Shannon.

Upon finding out that her cousin might be taken away, Kelly had raised an unholy fuss at Dumbledore, claiming that no one was going anywhere with Harry. It had taken a fair amount of arguing but eventually, the headmaster had conceded on one condition—a magical blood bonding which would strengthen the ties Kelly and Harry had. In other words, Shannon's blood would be in both her daughter _and_ her nephew—something that technically made Harry Shannon's son as well.

Hearing the hospital room door open slowly, Gibbs looked to see Dr. Willis standing there. After making sure that Harry was still asleep, the NCIS agent quietly stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. He didn't say anything as he studied the doctor's expression but he knew that it wasn't good news. Expecting the worst, Gibbs was slightly surprised when the oncologist said, "It's not as bad as it could be, but it's still not good."

"How bad?" Gibbs asked, cautiously, turning to look through the window of the hospital room at his nephew.

Dr. Willis leaned against the wall next to the window, watching Gibbs as she spoke. "The tumor in Harry's leg is too engrained to simply remove. I already scheduled surgery for tomorrow morning to do the amputation. There's another small tumor behind Harry's eye. It looks to be easy to remove, but we won't know if we can save the eye until the surgery."

Gibbs nodded, taking all that in. "Then more chemotherapy, right?" It wasn't hard for him to remember how Harry had looked before when he'd been in treatment—way too skinny and completely bald… and yet somehow never looking really scared. Unlike now…

"There's a new drug out that's been developed specifically for treatment of bone cancer in adolescents 10-16 years old," the oncologist went on, trying to sound at least somewhat optimistic. "That's what we'll be starting Harry on after the surgery and after we put in a new Hickman catheter."

Ahhh, yes… Gibbs had forgotten about that, he realized sadly. When Harry had first gone to Hogwarts, he'd still been bald from the chemo and he'd still had the central line catheter just incase of sudden relapse. It was only after Harry's one year check-up that Dr. Willis had decided it was okay to remove the central line. And speaking of Hogwarts… Gibbs remembered that he needed to contact the school and let them know that Harry was sick so that arrangements could be made for his chemo treatments once school started again.

xxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, Gibbs and Kelly sat in the surgical waiting room not saying a word to one another.

Harry had tried to act stoic and resolute when he heard about the surgery to amputate his leg but he knew that his cousin and uncle weren't fooled in the slightest. As he'd been wheeled into the operating room, he'd even tried giving his family a reassuring smile and a thumbs up—a futile gesture, but heartfelt.

"Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs looked up at the sound of the voice and saw Harry's best friend, Hermione Granger walking up to him followed by Harry's godfather, Sirius Black. Without saying a word, he just nodded in greeting, not sure of what to say.

Sirius, however, wasn't so quiet about the situation. "What's going on with Harry?" he asked, hurriedly. "We just got here this morning after getting an owl from Director Sheppard at the hotel and the nurse said Harry's in surgery?" Looking from Gibbs to Kelly, he seemed to get even more frantic and worried when he received to reply. Only last night Hermione had told him about Harry's illness when he was 8 and needless to say, Sirius had been beyond shocked to find out that his godson had been keeping something this serious from him.

Finally, Kelly let out a deep breath and explained. "Harry's cancer relapsed. The osteosarcoma in his leg grew back and, uh… and the doctors are removing it. His whole leg," she added, seeing that Sirius thought she meant the surgeons were simply cutting out the tumor. "And… he may end up losing his eye as well."

Sirius sank slowly into a chair, feeling completely drained. He'd only just gotten Harry back in his life after 12 years in Azkaban and now the kid was seriously ill and might even… Sirius knew he could never forgive himself for acting so rashly all those years ago. He should have confronted Peter Pettigrew quietly and then taken him to Dumbledore and forced the truth out of him. Then that traitorous rat would have been locked up and Sirius could have… As he looked at Gibbs and Kelly, he felt his heart ache. They loved Harry so much and even when Sirius thought about how grand it would have been to raise Harry himself, he knew that on the whole, Harry had grown up into the person he was because of his cousin and uncle.

Sitting next to Kelly, Hermione couldn't help noticing how torn up the young woman was. It was a small wonder, of course. Kelly and Harry had grown up together—for the most part—and Harry always looked at his cousin as more like a big sister, or so that's what he'd always told Hermione. Trying to put the pragmatic part of her mind to work, the young witch asked, "So after Harry gets out of surgery…what's next?"

Gibbs knew what the teenager was trying to do and he also realized that right now was the time to plan and figure out what to do next. "After he recovers from surgery, Harry's going to be in chemo again. There's no real way of knowing how long that'll be. I talked with the NCIS Director—she's getting a hold of Dumbledore so the school knows that Harry will still be in treatment when the new school year starts."

Conversation seemed to die off after that as the four people sat waiting for any news of Harry, each wondering what the following months would bring.

* * *

Next chapter, I'm hoping to have a good solid history of Harry when his cancer first developed as well as more information on Kelly's leg disorder.


	3. Chapter 3

AUTHOR'S NOTES: As is typical with my highly emotional chapters, this one is shorter. But I promise a plenty long one next time as well as appearences from Abby, Ducky, and the Weasleys.

Chapter 3

* * *

_7 Years Ago_

Leroy Jethro Gibbs had faced many challenges in his life but no matter the obstacle, he'd always managed to get through things. He never quit and he would never give up on the people who mattered to him.

But sitting in the hospital room, looking from his nephew to the pediatric oncologist, Gibbs found himself suddenly facing an adversary that he'd never been prepared for. He'd never even considered the possibility…

Harry had been happily playing with the kids in his elementary school class during recess and he'd fallen off the jungle gym and landed on his right leg. The bruise that had formed refused to go away and when Harry's knee continued to be incredibly swollen and painful, Gibbs had taken the kid to the doctor for a check-up.

X

First, there had been the exam…then x-rays followed by blood tests and biopsies…

It was a lot to take in but if there was one thing that Gibbs had learned from the Marines it was making a battle plan. And the first step of that plan was information.

After surgery to remove the tumor in Harry's leg and the installation of a Hickman catheter in his subclavian vein, there was a brief 4 weeks during which Dr. Grace Willis—Harry's oncologist—reviewed the young boy's treatment and schedule.

"Unfortunately, Harry will have to stay in the hospital while he's in treatment," Dr. Willis explained, regretfully, as she looked at Harry's uncle. "Between the radiation therapy and chemo I think it would be the best way to go."

Harry looked from the doctor to his uncle and cousin, fear in his eyes as he listened to what his life would be like for the foreseeable future. Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturday s he'd have chemotherapy treatments where he'd be attached to and IV that would drip medicine into his body that would make him sick and cause his hair to fall out. Then on the other days there would be radiation treatments which would make him feel even worse.

Feeling someone pull him close, Harry looked to see his cousin, Kelly, hugging him tight. He leaned against her, tears in his eyes. "I don't want to be sick," Harry said, looking at Gibbs, pleadingly. "I don't want to stay in the hospital. I want to go home."

Gibbs sat on the bed, waiting a moment for Harry to calm down a little before he said, "I know you hate being sick, buck… And it's going to be hard for a while. But you gotta be tough, okay?"

"Are you going to stay with me, Uncle Gibbs?" Harry asked, hopefully. He wanted to be strong but somehow it was easier when his uncle was with him. The man never seemed to be afraid of anything, ever.

It was hard to answer the poor kid, Gibbs thought, sadly. As much as he wanted to stay with Harry every moment he was in treatment, it wasn't really possible, no matter how much either of them wanted it to be. And what was worse, Gibbs thought later, was that if Shannon had still been alive, then she would have permanently stationed herself in Harry's hospital room for as long as he was sick.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

But as Harry began treatments and the chemo and radiation started taking its toll on his system, Kelly became more and more a fixture at the hospital. At first, she'd get to Harry's room early in the morning to spend an hour or so before going off to school, only to come back to the hospital as soon as classes were over.

Harry's hair had started falling out two weeks after his chemotherapy treatments had begun and he was always sick to his stomach and tired. To ensure that he didn't become malnourished and that his blood counts stayed up, his oncologist began starting him on nutritional supplements as well as packed cell transfusions. By the end of his 2 month of treatment, Harry was attached to an IV nearly 24 hours a day.

The upside, however, was that when Harry's 9th birthday came around at the end of July, Dr. Willis declared him finished with the radiation part of the treatment.

"So Harry's done with the radiation but not chemo?" Gibbs clarified as he, Kelly, and Harry sat in the hospital room eating chocolate cake with blue frosting. Gibbs' girlfriend and partner at NCIS, Jenny Sheppard, had stopped by earlier in the day to with Harry a happy birthday and drop off his present—a new sketchpad to replace the one Harry had accidentally ruined two weeks ago after throwing up on it after radiation.

Kelly nodded, sadly. She'd spoken to Dr. Willis the previous day and the oncologist had reported that the malignant cells remaining in Harry's leg were 98% eliminated, but that the blood tests still showed cancer in his blood. This, unfortunately, meant more chemo. Looking at her cousin who had pushed his paper plate of cake away, dismally, she told him, "Dr. Willis said that after this cycle, she wants to increase the number of treatments as well as start you on two new drugs."

"I don't want any new medicine," Harry complained. "I want it to stop." Just last week, he'd found what was left of his hair on his pillow and even though he knew it would grow back—or so everyone kept telling him—it was a very obvious sign that he was sick. He also hated the central line because it kept irritating him as he slept. He just wanted to be healthy again and run around with the kids at school or be at home in the basement helping his uncle build his latest boat. "I hate being sick and I hate being in the hospital!"

Looking down at the floor, Kelly felt her heart break for the kid she had come to view as a little brother. She'd give anything to take Harry's place. The treatments, the hospitalization, the pain, the hair falling out… it would be worth ALL of it to see Harry happy and healthy again. But, then again, Kelly thought dismally as she found her eye being drawn to the braces she wore on her legs and the new pair of forearm crutches leaning against the bedside table, Harry hadn't been the only one going through hard times the past 3 months.

Kelly had been diagnosed with a rare muscle disorder a year after her mother had been killed and over the past 7 years, her legs had been getting weaker and weaker. Starting high school she'd felt embarrassed since she'd had to start wearing leg braces 24/7—unless she was going to bed, of course. But the braces hadn't been enough lately and shortly after Harry had been admitted in the pediatric oncology ward, one of the doctors had noticed that Kelly was having more trouble walking and the following day the teenager had been given a pair of forearm crutches.

"I'm going to go get a soda," Kelly said, suddenly as she carefully stood up from where she'd been sitting on Harry's bed. "I'll be right back," she promised with a smile before grabbing her crutches and limping out of the room and down the hallway.

"Gibbs?" Harry asked as he carefully sat up, looking at his uncle. "Can I ask you a question?"

The Marine-turned-NCIS agent nodded as he set his empty plate aside. Glancing at Harry's unfinished cake, he asked, "Mind if I finish that while you ask?" As Harry nodded, Gibbs took the plate and picked up the plastic fork before saying, "What do you want to know?"

Harry hesitated a moment before asking, "Did my mom have red hair? Like Kelly's?" He'd been thinking of his parents a lot lately and wondering what they had been like. He knew that his uncle hadn't known James and Lily Potter, but surely Shannon had told her husband something about her sister. To Harry's surprise, however, he watched Gibbs stand and retrieve a wrapped package from a bag in the corner. Taking the present, Harry opened it curiously and he found himself staring at a photo album filled with pictures of his mother and father.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Gibbs said, kindly. When Harry had been little and just starting to talk, Gibbs had begun having an internal debate with himself on whether he should have Harry call him 'Dad' or 'Uncle Gibbs'. It was something that had been on his mind ever since Harry had come to live with him and Shannon and there never seemed to be a right answer to the dilemma. Finally, when Harry was 5, Gibbs had sat the child down and told him to call him whatever he was comfortable with—whether it was 'Gibbs', 'Jethro', 'Uncle', or 'Dad'.

X

When Harry started to fall asleep, Gibbs tucked him in and waited until he was out before quietly leaving the room. Flagging down one of the nurses passing by—a young woman named Lucy Camden—Gibbs asked, "Have you seen Kelly?" It wasn't like his daughter to just run out of the room like that—especially with Harry in the room.

"Yeah, I just came from the cafeteria," Lucy replied, nodding. Seeing the look on Gibbs' face and thinking of how Kelly had looked, she asked, "Everything okay?"

The first response that came to Gibbs' mind was a flat-out 'no' but mulling the question over, he shrugged. "I don't know. I just…"

Everything was certainly _not_ okay. Harry was still sick and would be on chemo for who knew how long… it could be weeks, months…or years, even. And even when he went into remission, there would _always_ be the risk of reoccurrence.

And then there was Kelly… His wonderful, kind, sweet, feisty, stubborn daughter who was a constantly amazing blend of himself and Shannon and who—until the diagnosis of the muscle disorder—had been hell-bent on becoming a Marine just like her father.

How could anyone even think of asking him if he was okay, Gibbs wanted to know? Anyone who knew him had to know that there was so much going on that just…

Lucy didn't say anything else at first. Instead she just gave Gibbs' arm a light squeeze in sympathy and a comforting smile. "Go talk with your daughter. I'll sit with Harry."

Gibbs nodded and headed towards the elevator. As it opened up, he saw Claire and Bryan Hyden coming down the hall towards him. Holding the doors open, Gibbs waited until the couple was inside before nodding at the first floor button where his hand was poised. When Bryan nodded back, Gibbs pressed the button before looking at the worried parents whose only son, Jacob, was also a patient in the pediatric oncology wing. "How's Jake?"

Claire let out a deep, weary sigh, but there was a smile on her face. "Dr. Willis just told us Jake's in remission," she said, feeling relieved. "What about your son, Harry?"

Not bothering to correct Claire—after all, Harry always felt like his own son anyway—Gibbs sighed. "Radiation's over but he's still got a long way to go with the chemotherapy." Looking at the elevator doors, he added, "And Kelly's upset about… something."

Claire's eyes were full of sympathy as she said, "I can't imagine how hard this for you with Harry _and_ Kelly."

Gibbs just nodded, silently. It wasn't that he wasn't one for showing emotion, but rather that it was so hard for him to be vulnerable lately. Both Kelly and Harry needed him to be tough and strong and if he let down his defenses…

In the cafeteria, Claire and Bryan celebrated by getting ice cream while Gibbs found Kelly in a far corner of the room sipping on a strawberry peach smoothie. Sitting opposite his daughter, he remained silent, waiting for Kelly to confide in him—the same way she'd always had when she was a kid. Trying to get Kelly to talk when she didn't want to was basically the equivalent to getting blood from a stone.

"Dad…?" Kelly began, as she stared at her smoothie cup. "Is our family cursed?" Looking up and meeting her father's eyes—which were the same as hers in color and intensity—she hastily ran through the rational for her theory. "First Harry's parents, a-and then Mom… Then me with this…th-this leg thing and Harry getting cancer…" Taking a moment to go over her thoughts again only this time more cohesively, she started over. "None of this is fair. Harry should be healthy and have his parents back… I should have Mom back…"

"No argument here," Gibbs agreed, letting Kelly get everything off her chest. "But what about you?

Kelly slurped the rest of her smoothie and shrugged. "Dad, when I was a kid and wanted to be a Marine… it was because being just like you was what mattered most to me. It was the only thing I wanted. Then Harry came along and Mom died… and I started thinking that maybe I needed to be like her, too. That I needed to think about and take care of others."

Nodding thoughtfully, Gibbs cocked his head to the side slightly as he asked, "And earlier?"

"The leg disorder just never bothered me much until lately," Kelly explained. "I hated wearing the braces at first, but I just figured that if that was what I needed to do to keep walking, okay. Now…"

Kelly's words hung in the air and as she and her father studied each other they knew that this was something that they'd never really talked about until now. With everything else going on in their lives, Kelly had put her family and school ahead of her own problems but now it was time to air everything out. Putting his hands on his daughter's, Gibbs nodded once, a simple gesture to say that he was listening.

"I'm scared, Dad," Kelly confessed. "Walking with the crutches, I just kept thinking that this is it. When my legs get worse after this point I'm not going to be able walk. I'm not ready for that."

"Neither am I, sniper," Gibbs admitted. The truth was that he'd never been ready for any of this but what other choice did he have other than toughing it out?

* * *

A/N: In answer to the questions about the nurse's name in this chapter-yes, I was watching repeats of 7th Heaven while I wrote this.

Also, since I usually have Sirius Black call Harry 'Prongslet' as a nickname, I decided to have Gibbs call Harry 'buck'. And Gibbs' nickname for Kelly comes from when she wanted to be a Marine sniper when she was little.


	4. Chapter 4

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So there's a snippet of the start of this chapter that I must confess I 'borrowed' from the Lifetime Network TV movie 'Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy'. *laughs* NO, it doesn't involve what you think. Weirdos…. I borrowed the discussion about chocolate cravings while in chemo, if you must know.

Anywho, enjoy the chapter and please read, review, and show your love!

Chapter 4

* * *

The third day that Harry was unconscious after the surgery to remove his leg and the tumor behind his eye, Sirius was starting to get worried when his godson still hadn't regained full consciousness. Harry had woken briefly several times but only for a minute or two before falling back asleep. Sitting next to the bed, he kept watch over Harry and wondered if there was something wrong. Had Harry's cancer affected his brain or was there a problem with the anesthetic the surgeons had given him or…?

"He'll be okay," Kelly assured Sirius when she wheeled into the hospital room, a carrier containing four large coffees on her lap. Setting the tray on Harry's bedside table, she looked at Harry and she fought back her emotions when she saw the empty space where Harry's right leg had been and the bandage over his left eye. The surgeons had been able to save the eye but until Harry woke up for more than a few moments, they wouldn't know if he'd be able to see out of it.

Seeing that Sirius still looked worried at her cousin's condition, Kelly shrugged as she explained, "It's just Harry's body resting up. He was like this after the first time, too. He slept for almost a whole week last time and was never awake for more than, like, 5 minutes." She sipped her own cup of coffee before putting a hand on Sirius's. "Don't worry."

But Sirius was worried. He couldn't imagine what was going to be next for Harry and the worst part was that he didn't know how to deal with this whole situation. Gibbs and Kelly had been there for Harry when he first got sick and knew—at least for the most part—what to expect. Sirius, however, was completely in the dark and he wished he had been around the first time.

As if she could read his mind, Kelly said, sadly, "The worst part about all this is that there's really nothing we can do to help… I hate it," she added, angrily. Rubbing the back of her neck thoughtfully and realizing that Sirius probably didn't know much about what would be happening to Harry once he started actually waking up, she started to explain what would happen. "Harry's likely going to be really moody the next couple weeks," Kelly started. "He's always been that way when it comes to his yearly check-ups and blood tests so this is going to be even worse. Don't be surprised if he stops talking to… well, anyone."

Not liking the sound of that, Sirius frowned. He remembered when Harry was a baby—in fact, Harry had just begun talking right before James and Lily had died—and it had been a chore getting the kid to stop babbling or laughing, or… whatever. Harry had been a very vocal child and the idea of him being quiet was unsettling to say the least. "So… what else?" Sirius asked, not sure how all this could possibly get worse.

"Chemo makes Harry's hair fall out pretty quickly," Kelly went on. "And it's usually hard to get him to eat anything other than toast, juice, and applesauce." Although after a moment or two, she added, "And chocolate for some odd reason. Dad and I never did figure that out."

"'Cause the chemo makes everything taste like a rusted nail," Harry muttered as he woke up. Sitting up slowly, he winced as the movement jostled what was left of his leg and he felt the central line catheter pull a bit. "Chocolate's the only thing that helps cover up that metallic taste." Looking from Kelly to his godfather, he noticed that Sirius seemed unsure of what to say. It wasn't surprising given that Harry had never told him about the cancer. "Where's Hermione? And Gibbs?"

Kelly shrugged lightly in response. She'd asked her father when he'd be coming by the hospital and he'd assured her that he'd come later that morning. "Dad said that he had to take care of some things at NCIS first and then he'd come to the hospital as soon as he could. I have no idea where Hermione is, though."

Thinking of his best friend, Harry couldn't help but give a small smile. "Try the medical library. Knowing her, she's probably been there the past few days since my surgery."

xxx

Even with his years and experience, Dr. Donald 'Ducky' Mallard could still say that he was still able to be surprised. And as he headed into the medical library at University Hospital, he stopped as he saw Hermione Granger sitting in the back of the library, slumped over a pile of books and journals. She seemed to be snoring ever so softly and even after Ducky sat down at the table opposite her, Hermione never even stirred in the slightest. For a moment, the NCIS medical examiner considered letting the poor girl sleep. He knew she had to be worried for her best friend—though Gibbs always suspected the two were more than that—not to mention wanting to know everything that was to know about Harry's disease, treatment, and prognosis.

Reaching across the table to rouse the young witch, Ducky smiled as Hermione woke with a start, sending books and papers scattering. "My apologies, my dear," he said, sympathetically. "I thought you might want some company. Or… perhaps breakfast?" As the medical examiner watched the young woman gather her things together, he asked, gently, "Are you alright, Miss Granger?"

Hermione sighed wearily as she shook her head vehemently. Cramming her notes and the photocopies she'd made into her bag along with the medical journals she'd asked to borrow the previous day, she couldn't stop her thoughts from running wild. Of all the different types of cancer to have, Harry had one of the worst. What's more, the best medicines to treat the disease had some of the worst side effects. And in Harry's case treatment this time around would be very aggressive. In fact, Hermione would be surprised if Harry would even be able to leave the hospital to go back to Hogwarts.

And even if he _could_ go back to school, chemotherapy treatment would take up a large part of Harry's year. Would he need to make constant trips to the Hospital Wing or to St. Mungo's, or some other medical facility? What if something happened and Harry picked up some sort of infection? If that happened, he'd have to be hospitalized again, surely.

Accompanying Dr. Mallard to Harry's room, Hermione tried to push her negative thoughts and worries aside and tried to work on a smile that didn't feel forced. She knew that Harry would likely feel depressed and anxious enough and if she went in the room looking worried…

As the two got to the pediatric oncology wing, they found Gibbs coming out of the elevators. The NCIS special agent looked tired but at the same time he had an almost resolved and determined look on his face. "Hermione," he said, holding out a hand for the teenager to shake. When she did so, he smiled warmly and put a hand on her shoulder as the group headed down the hallway.

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Driving towards NCIS, DiNozzo absentmindedly drummed his fingers against the steering wheel of his Mustang convertible as the radio played some country song.

It seemed as though a cloud had fallen over NCIS and everyone was feeling it—not just Gibbs, McGee, Ziva, and Tony. But whatever everyone else was going through, DiNozzo knew exactly what was affecting his team. It was strange how one thing could completely shift the atmosphere of the building.

But even as down as many people seemed to be, there was a silver lining starting. News of Gibbs' nephew had spread like wildfire and overnight, it seemed, there were collections of whatever money people could spare to help cover Harry's medical expenses. DiNozzo himself had donated a fairly large amount of money and he knew that McGee had already set things up so that all the proceeds of his recently published book—_Deep Six_—would go directly to Gibbs.

Even in the face of what was going on, DiNozzo felt it heartwarming that the people he worked with were so willing to help out even though Gibbs did have something of a reputation for being gruff sometimes.

The biggest change, though, was that starting today, Tony would be resuming his title of Team Leader while Gibbs was focused on Harry.

When he finally got into NCIS, DiNozzo was heading towards the security check when he paused as he saw someone he'd only seen pictures of—Albus Dumbledore, who seemed to be having issues with the security guards. Heading over to the Hogwarts headmaster before something happened, DiNozzo quickly intervened. "Don't worry guys—he's with me," he said, steering the old wizard towards the elevator as swiftly as possible. Thankfully, security didn't try to stop them and once the two were headed up, DiNozzo stopped the elevator between floors. Looking at Dumbledore, he asked, "So what brings you all the way to NCIS?"

"I would presume that would be obvious, Special Agent DiNozzo," Dumbledore replied, calmly. "Your agency director informed me about Harry Potter. I was sorry to hear that he relapsed." His blue eyes went from their usual twinkle to being full of concern and worry as he asked, "What is his prognosis, if I may ask?"

DiNozzo started the elevator again and looked away. "Harry just had his right leg amputated and last I heard, the docs weren't sure if he'd be able to see out of his left eye." When they finally arrived on the upper level of NCIS, the pair headed into the Director's office where Jenny Sheppard was talking with another man who seemed surprised at the sudden intrusion.

"Something I can help you with, Agent DiNozzo?" Jen asked, curtly, although as soon as she recognized the person accompanying the Special Agent, she seemed to relax ever so slightly. She knew what Dumbledore had to be here for and in trying to lessen the awkwardness, she said, quickly, "I'll be down to Abby's lab in a moment."

DiNozzo nodded, recognizing the ploy for what it was, and led the Hogwarts headmaster back towards the elevators and downstairs to the forensic lab.

x

In his 150 years of life, Albus Dumbledore could honestly say that Abby Scuito was one of the most fascinating people he had ever encountered, and that included both witches and wizards _and_ muggles. Even the young woman's appearance was a contradiction. Professional, yet eccentric. She looked smart and sharp yet younger than her actual age. And in an environment where science and technology aided in the solving of crimes, Abby seemed to make her space entirely her own.

"Abby," DiNozzo said, getting the forensic scientist's attention by turning off the music blaring from the stereo positioned against one wall. Indicating the wizard behind him, he added, "Abbs, this is Albus Dumbledore. Harry's headmaster at Hogwarts."

Abby seemed surprised but she smiled broadly and quickly hugged Dumbledore who seemed caught off guard by the action but he smiled in return. "It is so nice to finally meet you!" Abby exclaimed after a moment. "I mean, Harry's told us so much about you but I never thought you'd actually come here. And by that I mean here to DC not here to my lab, obviously, although here to NCIS does make sense since this is where Gibbs works. Gibbs is Harry's uncle, but you know that already don't you?"

Dumbledore smiled warmly at Abby and nodded. "Yes, I know Harry's family well, my dear. Although, I must admit, sadly, that my arrival here has to do with Harry's illness."

When Jennifer Sheppard had contacted him the previous week saying that Harry's cancer had returned, Dumbledore had been utterly shocked by the news. Oh, he remembered when Harry had first come to Hogwarts maybe two weeks after finally going into remission the first time. The child had been painfully thin and all his hair was gone, causing months of teasing amongst the other first year students.

"So…" DiNozzo started, voicing the question that had been on his mind for a few days now. "What's going to happen to Harry once the next school year starts?" For the moment, it really wasn't an issue since Harry would be in the hospital for at least another week and there were still a couple months before September 1st. But once Harry started chemo then things would get very serious and sticking with the chemotherapy schedule would be a top priority. At the same time, DiNozzo also knew that it would be important to give Harry as much normalcy as possible and that included school and his friends. Which brought him back to the question of what would happen now.

Dumbledore sat down on the computer chair Abby offered and he began to explain the plans he'd started. "I have spoken to Harry's doctors in an effort to determine what would be the best course of action. Of course there is the severity of Harry's illness and the fact that he will be needing ongoing treatment in addition to physical therapy. But we must also consider the fact that it would disrupt his schooling to spend the entire duration in hospital. Thus, I propose a compromise."

DiNozzo and Abby exchanged looks at that before the forensic scientist asked, "What kind of compromise?"

The Hogwarts headmaster's eyes twinkled kindly as he explained. "I have begun work on setting up a private suite for Harry at Hogwarts. There, he will be able to receive all of his chemotherapy treatments and keep up on all assignments, even if he feels unable to actually attend classes." The suite would be half dorm room and half hospital room and would be connected to the Hospital Wing. Of course, there was also the issue of needing someone at Hogwarts who understood muggle diseases in general and cancer in particular—especially in teenagers—but that was one of the other reasons Dumbledore had come to Washington DC.

Finding an oncologist who was connected with the wizarding world had been far from easy but after asking as many people as possible, he had finally found Dr. Neely Grant who had been very eager to meet with him.

But there was one other reason the Hogwarts headmaster needed to come to DC and it concerned Harry directly.

Sensing that the wizard was holding something back, Abby gave him a look, waiting for the older man to break.

Sure enough—and to DiNozzo's great amusement—Dumbledore continued. "There is also something regarding Harry that I wished to discuss with him personally. It regards his family… and specifically his parents."

"What about Harry's father?" Abby wanted to know. But as she thought for a few moments about what else might be going on, a few things began to click. "James Potter had cancer, too, didn't he?"

DiNozzo looked up sharply at that and gave the headmaster a look. "And you didn't tell Harry that his dad was sick, too? Or Gibbs?"

"It wasn't just James," Dumbledore replied, sadly. "It was Lily as well." He hated admitting the news to Harry's family but given the teenager's relapse, it was necessary.

* * *

_14 Years Ago_

_Halloween_

James sat in the office of Victor Getz, a magical healer that specialized in muggle diseases, not quite sure what to make of the healer's diagnosis. It had been so long that James had been sick that he'd almost forgotten all about it. He'd gone to school, grown up, married the girl of his dreams, and now he even had a son. Damn, he thought, a cold feeling in his stomach. What if Harry grew up and one day ended up developing cancer? James couldn't stand to think about that. He'd seen how the disease took a toll on his own parents and he couldn't imagine his own son going through what he'd gone through.

But suddenly, the nice, safe life James had built was falling apart. The cancer had come back and this time it was even more aggressive than when James had been a kid and it was making him suddenly uneasy and nervous about everything. Was there enough money in the Potter vault for Lily and Harry if he was gone? What if he had to go through chemotherapy again? How would Lily react? What if he never saw Harry grow up and have his own family?

"So what now?" James asked, trying not to feel like he was suddenly given a death sentence. "Chemo? Radiation? How long are we talking treatment-wise?"

Getz shook his head, sadly. He never liked giving this kind of news and especially to a patient he'd known for years who happened to be a new father. "About… 7 months." Seeing the look of relief on James' face, he went on. "James… I mean you have maybe 7 months. Perhaps a year or a little more with chemo and radiation."

"And th- there's nothing we can do?" James asked, hoping there was a slim chance… something… anything. He hadn't really thought about dying as a reality. It was more like a worst-case scenario that couldn't possibly happen.

"We'd be buying you time," Getz replied, regretfully. "Months… if that."

James closed his eyes, not wanting to believe this. He'd never get to see his son grow up… play Quidditch… get married… And Lily… How could he tell her this? She'd been so worried about him when he started feeling sick and he'd been insisting that he was fine, that it was just the flu…

How could he tell the love of his life that he was dying?

xxxxxxxx

Lily had finally managed to get Harry down for a nap when James got back from…wherever he'd gone. It wasn't like James to go sneaking around—even if he was on one of Dumbledore's little missions. And there was a small part of Lily that was suddenly afraid that James might be having an affair. Hurrying to the back door when she heard her husband knock, she opened it, smiling for a brief moment but as soon as she saw the look on James' face, she could tell that whatever was going on wasn't good news. "What happened?" Lily asked quickly, fearing the worst. "Did someone else die? Was it Sirius?"

James went to the kitchen table and slowly sat down, still not sure of what to say. "Lily…" he started before getting choked up. How could he break her heart like this?

Lily felt like someone dropped ice into her stomach as she sat down next to her husband. Putting a hand on James' arm, she looked at him with a pleading expression. "Tell me it's not my parents…" When James looked at her with tears welling up in his eyes, Lily asked, "Your mother?" Taking his hand, she said, "Please… Tell me…"

"I…" James stammered as he saw Lily's beautiful green eyes. This was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life and he'd have given anything to not have to break the bad news."I'm…" But there was no easy way to say it. No way to cushion the blow. "I was… with Healer Getz."

At first, Lily's look was one of confusion, then recognition. As the news started sinking in and understanding crept in, she felt suddenly numb. "Oh, God," Lily said, feeling like the world had just fallen from beneath her. "No… James…" How could this happen? What about their family? What was worse, she knew that now she had to tell her husband about her own illness. He'd never known and Lily had felt it was for the best, especially once she'd gotten pregnant.

"Getz told me that I have a… a year at best," James went on as Lily started to cry. Taking both her hands in his, James said, "Lily, please…"

Before he could say anything else, there was a magical crackle in the air and James stood up quickly, alarmed. Lily looked at him, worry and fear in her eyes Dear God, what was happening now? "James, what's—?"

"It's him…" James said, feeling the panic rising in his chest as the magical warning system started signaling that the house and his family were no longer hidden. "It's Voldemort! Lily, take Harry and go! I'll hold him off! GO!" Watching Lily scramble out of the room towards Harry's nursery, James turned to the door and drew his wand. He didn't want to die like this but if he could give Lily even a few seconds… Besides, he thought, resolved, he was dying anyway. But before he did go, he was going to do his damndest to save his family. When Voldemort burst into the house looking coldly murderous, he seemed almost amused to see that James was standing his ground. "I won't let you kill them," James said, resolutely.

"Noble words…" Voldemort said, quietly, as he drew his own wand. He did have to admire the other man's bravery…misplaced as it was. It was a shame. James Potter had a spirit that would have served the Death Eaters well. "But you will still die."

"Then kill me," James said, calmly. _'Hell, I'm dying anyway.' _"But I'm not going to let you get to Harry… or Lily." Swishing his wand, James hurled spell after spell, hex after hex but Voldemort deflected them all.

The fight went on for only a few more moments before James was sent crashing into the nearest wall. Half unconscious, he tried raising his wand for one final blow but it fell from his limp fingers, clattering to the floor.

Raising his wand, Voldemort's smile was cold and evil as he pointed his own wand at James' heart and said, "Avada Kedavra!"

* * *

_Present Day_

In Abby's lab, DiNozzo looked stunned as Dumbledore concluded the story. Looking over at Abby, he saw tears falling down her face as she hugged Bert the Hippo tightly. But there was more to the story, DiNozzo knew and wanting to know the rest, he asked, "What about Lily? You said she'd been sick too?"

Dumbledore nodded, gravely. "Lily was diagnosed with leukemia when she was very young. She was treated and thankfully never relapsed."

"Why didn't you say anything about this before?" The three turned in surprise when they heard Gibbs' voice. The Senior Special Agent looked pissed as his gaze settled on the Hogwarts headmaster. "Why didn't you tell me or tell Shannon? Do you have any idea how Kelly and I feel about what Harry's gone through? What he's going through _again_?"

DiNozzo hated butting into the conversation but he also knew that pissing off one of the most powerful wizards in the world wasn't likely to end well and the last thing he wanted was to get caught in the crossfire. "Boss, I think Abby and I will go check in on Harry. We'll call you." With that, he pulled Abby out of the room and towards the elevators.

In the lab, Dumbledore was calm as he met Gibbs' harsh gaze. "I never told you about Harry's parents because I, myself, was not aware of their medical histories until very recently when I was trying to find an on-site physician for Harry's upcoming school year."

Gibbs said nothing at first and while he did appreciate the headmaster's confidence at the notion of Harry returning to Hogwarts, he also didn't relish the idea of not being around to help his nephew deal with what was going on. "Okay," he said, finally, even though a more lengthy discussion about Dumbledore's withholding of the Potters' medical history was definitely in the future. "But if Harry's going back to Hogwarts, then I'm coming with him. Kelly, too."

"Naturally," Dumbledore acquiesced. "I was actually going to offer the invitation closer to the start of term but I shall work on a place for you and your daughter to stay while you are at Hogwarts. And of course, any of the members of your team would be welcome as well since I understand that they are also extended family."

Gibbs just nodded before heading out of the lab and towards the elevator wishing more than ever that Shannon was still around.


	5. Chapter 5

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I've been a bit stuck on this story but I will be trying to get another chapter up in the—hopefully—not too distant future.

The lyrics used here do not belong to me, but rather to the movie 'The Secret of NIMH' which happens to be my 2nd favorite movie of all time. My favorite version of the song is done by Katie Campbell and Dominik Hauser.

I also want to issue a shout-out to alix33 who, while helping me with getting unstuck, brought up a question that I hadn't thought of. Hopefully I answered satisfactorily.

Chapter 5

* * *

Just as Kelly had predicted, the closer it got to the start of Harry's chemotherapy treatments the quieter and more withdrawn the teenager got. Even when the physical therapist started getting Harry up and moving around on a pair of forearm crutches like the ones Kelly had used previously, he never said a word to anyone. Rather he just nodded or shrugged in response to any question asked of him.

And while Gibbs and Kelly were used to the silence, Hermione and Sirius both found it highly unnerving that Harry just seemed to have given up on interacting with others all together.

Sitting with Harry the night before he was due to start treatment, Hermione was just starting to drift off a bit when she heard Harry say her name. "Harry?" she said, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice since it had been the first time her best friend had said even one word to her all week. "What is it?" She got up from the armchair she'd been sitting in and went over to Harry, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I was thinking about the start of summer vacation last year," Harry replied, thoughtfully. "Remember when I told you Gibbs had retired and was living down in Mexico with Mike Franks?"

Hermione nodded as she recalled the letter from Harry about Gibbs getting caught in an explosion and resulting amnesia. Worried about her best friend, Hermione had invited Harry to stay with her family for the summer holiday but he turned down the offer, saying that Kelly's leg disorder had gotten worse and he wanted to stay at home to help his cousin once she was out of the hospital, even though Ziva had temporarily moved into the house to help out as well.

For Harry, that summer had been hard. Not only because of Kelly's disability, but because he was often by himself in the old house while Kelly was at work or physical therapy. And while at first the peace and quiet was okay, it started to become almost oppressive as the weeks went by.

Bringing himself back to the present, Harry sighed as he said, thoughtfully, "I think that's what I want to do… once this is all over. If I get through this…just spend a week or two on that beach in the sunshine. If I don't…"

Rather than chastise Harry for considering his death and his final resting place, Hermione just took his hand in hers and gave him a reassuring smile.

Early the following morning, Hermione woke when she heard arguing out in the hallway. The noises where getting louder indicating that whoever was talking was getting closer. Looking at Harry who was still sound asleep, Hermione got up quickly and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her. Turning to see who was coming, she surprised to see Kelly nearly shouting at Sirius and Remus Lupin. Behind them, Molly Weasley was looking fairly pissed off, as did DiNozzo and Abby as they brought up the rear.

"I swear if you go in there and tell Harry I'm going to—" Kelly said, almost screaming.

"Shhhh!" Hermione hissed, angrily. "Harry's still asleep so keep it down, will you?" As soon as the others nodded in agreement, the young witch snapped quietly, "What the bloody hell are you all on about?"

Kelly crossed her arms as she glared at Sirius and Lupin. "These two want to tell Harry that not only did _both_ his parents have cancer when they were kids but Harry's dad was terminal when he died." When the two older wizards started to make their case, Kelly cut in. "The two of you have _no idea_ what Harry's going through right now and you want to tell him that his parents were sick, too? Why don't you just go in and say, "Guess what, Harry? Genetics screwed you and you're gonna die!"?" Jerking her wheelchair around sharply, she headed for Harry's room, closing the door a little too hard after entering.

Hermione looked at Lupin and Sirius and frowned, sternly. "Kelly's right," she said, flatly. "Harry has too much on his plate right now to deal with this, too." Interrupting as the others started to explain the situation, Hermione shook her head to forestall the argument. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't tell Harry eventually. Just not right now. Please?"

Lupin turned to Sirius and the werewolf could tell that Harry's godfather was debating who was right. Trying to make things easier on his friend, Lupin nodded once, looking at Harry's best friend. "You're right, Hermione," he said, putting a hand on Sirius's shoulder to keep him from saying anything else. "Right now we need to focus on Harry. There'll be plenty of time later on to discuss the past."

The three in agreement, they again headed towards the door to Harry's hospital room, opening the door quietly as Harry was still asleep. However, the trio stopped just inside the room as they heard Kelly singing a soft lullaby, her voice quiet as a whisper.

"Dream by night, wish by day  
Love begins this way.  
Loving starts when open hearts touch and stay.

Sleep for now, dreaming's how  
Lovers' lives are planned.  
Future songs and flying dreams, hand in hand.

Love it seems made flying dreams,  
So hearts could soar.  
Heaven-sent, these dreams were meant  
To prove once more, that love is the key.  
Love is the key.

You and I touch the sky-the eagle and the dove.  
Nightingales, we keep our sails filled with love.

And love it seems made flying dreams  
To bring you home to me."

Sirius felt a catch in his throat and tears in his eyes as Kelly's lilting voice filled the room. The song was soft and tender and he could imagine Shannon singing the song endlessly to get Kelly—and later, Harry—to sleep or to comfort them after a nightmare or when they were sick. For Sirius, it broke his heart thinking about everything his godson had been through—and was currently going through—and he vowed to himself to make sure he was as available as possible while Harry was in chemo. Maybe he could stay in Harry's room at Hogwarts as Padfoot… There couldn't be any harm in that, could there?

"You and I touch the sky-the eagle and the dove.  
Nightingales, we keep our sails filled with love

And love it seems, made flying dreams  
to bring you home to me.

Ever strong, our future song  
to sing it must be free.

And every part is from the heart  
and love is still the key.

And love it seems, made flying dreams  
to bring you home to me."

x

As the mother of 7 children, Molly Weasley couldn't fathom the idea of one of her sons or her daughter being so sick. As she stood outside the room, watching Lupin, Sirius, and Hermione standing just inside the doorway, she prayed that somehow Harry would make it through this latest ordeal. The boy had such endurance to withstand everything he'd been through the past four years and after learning about his parents, Molly offered up additional prayers that the young man wouldn't follow in his father's footsteps in that case.

"Morning, everyone," Dr. Grace Willis said, somberly as she approached the group. Abby noticed the oncologist held an IV bag filled with a blue-tinged liquid—no doubt the first round of chemotherapy meds.

As everyone followed the doctor into the hospital room, they noticed that Harry was just starting to sit up, clearly still tired. Wordlessly, he watched Dr. Willis connecting the bag of meds to his IV and start the drip. Looking for something else to distract him from the drugs that would soon be coursing through his system, Harry's eyes landed on the empty spot under the blankets where his right leg had been. He started for a second or two and then began crying.

Even though Sirius and Kelly had been closer to Harry, it was Molly Weasley who sat down on the bed next to him, holding the teenager in her arms and murmuring softly.

The moment was interrupted, however, by a loud crash as Sirius drove his right hand into the nearest wall. As he pulled his arm back, the pain let him know quite plainly that he'd broken something. Without saying a word, he let Dr. Willis lead him out of the room.

xxxxxx

An hour later, after an x-ray which confirmed a boxer's fracture, Sirius sat in a treatment cubicle while Jeanne Benoit applied the cast to his hand.

"You're lucky you're not going to need surgery for this," Jeanne said, giving Sirius a stern look. "So what did the wall do to you?"

Sirius let out a breath and after a while, he said, "I failed my godson 13 years ago by not being there when he needed me and now I actually _can_ be there for him when he needs me, but there's nothing I can actually do to help him." Staring at his hand as the young doctor casted it, Sirius felt better as the injured limb throbbed with pain. True, the injury did nothing to help Harry, and he could just heal the injury with his wand later, but there was something about the physical pain that mirrored the emotional pain.

Jeanne saw the pain in Sirius's eyes and knew that it had nothing to do with his injury. "My advice? Stop focusing on everything you're _not_ doing and start focusing on what you _are_ doing. Harry's going to be going through enough without worrying that you're going to be going off the rails because of him."


	6. Chapter 6

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So something I want to address before I get into the chapter. First of all, my very first review and commentary of 'Watership Down'—my favorite movie of all time is up on YouTube. If you look up 'Watership Down commentary' look for the listing with 'Lilac Elf' in the title. Let me know what you guys think.

Chapter 6

* * *

It was eerie how quickly Gibbs and Kelly fell in to the old routines regarding Harry.

When Harry had first gotten sick, every morning one of them would get to the hospital just as the sun started to rise, spelling whoever had spent the night with Harry. Afterwards, either Kelly would head off to school, making sure to call during lunchtime, a free period, or right after school, or Gibbs would go into NCIS, trying to focus on the current case when his mind was really on his nephew.

After Tony DiNozzo and Abby Scuito joined NCIS, both had been more than willing to help out however possible, whether by staying with Harry in the hospital, running Kelly to physical therapy, or something as simple as offering Gibbs a smile and a 'good morning'.

With the arrival of Harry's friends, however, this routine was changed up by the fact that for once, Kelly and Gibbs didn't have to shoulder the burden of Harry's illness alone. Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George Weasley had arrived two weeks after the start of Harry's chemo treatments, promising the best birthday party ever and they became near-permanent fixtures in the oncology ward. The twins, in fact, had instantly appointed themselves as Moral Boosters for the other patients in the wing.

But it wasn't just because of rallying behind their friend that Fred and George were making the rounds of the hospital. For the past month or so, they had been working on developing a line of trick sweets for their future joke shop. Through constant trial and error, they had come up with several candies along with antidote sweets to counter any adverse side effects. To undo the effects of the Puking Pastilles, George had tried adding a few different ingredients to give the candies a better flavor. Tasting the results, he had a quick conference with his twin and when the two headed to the States with Ron and Ginny, they brought all of the new product with them.

x

To Harry's surprise one morning, he found Fred and George looking exceptionally pleased with themselves as they stood near two huge boxes filled with small candy tins. Sitting up and putting on his glasses before pushing his thinning hair out of his eyes—and trying not to react to another clump coming away in his hand—Harry asked, "What's all this? Stuff for the joke shop?"

Fred shook his head, quickly. "No, mate. This is for a more…targeted audience." Handing a small, wrapped mint to Harry, he added, "Try this."

Harry didn't want to. His stomach was on edge lately and even apple juice wasn't staying down. The worst part was that, with as much weight as he'd lost even in the past month or so, Dr. Willis was reluctant to let Harry leave the hospital, even though he was doing a very good job getting around on crutches.

However, at the moment, Harry was hoping that the candy might help get the usual vomit/chemo taste out of his mouth. Unwrapping the mint, Harry popped it in his mouth and rolled it around for a moment. The flavor was citrusy with the very slightest hint of something spicy. Looking at the twins in sudden surprise, he couldn't believe it when his nausea went away almost instantly. In fact, after another minute or so, his appetite came back and he could think of nothing better than a sandwich and some fries.

"That's incredible!" Harry exclaimed, in awe of the Twins' brilliance. "How did you even…?"

George took up the story, explaining about the trial and error of their line of trick sweets. "When these beauties were done, Fred and I did some serious talking and we decided… not to sell them through the joke shop." Seeing Harry's astonished look, he went on. "We wrote down the formula, including the adjustments for different flavors, and brought every bit of product we have when we came here."

For a moment, Harry saw the sales potential. The twins were going to be beyond rich with these mints and not just from selling to cancer patients, but even others with nausea issues and possibly even pregnant women.

As if reading Harry's mind, Fred's smile faded ever so slightly. "We're not doing these for profit, Harry. We both agreed to just hand them out free of charge. Something like this and the effects… we figured it wasn't about the money. And before you worry about cost, after checking the finances, we figured that it would take a little while longer to start making money, but like I said—this is worth it."

"And since you're probably feeling much better…" George said with a grin as he pulled out a fast food bag and a bottle of juice. "Hungry?"

Harry's stomach gave a loud growl and he nodded, taking the offered burger and fries. "Ravenous."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alone in the basement, Gibbs sat on a sawhorse, sipping a mug of coffee. At any other time, it might have been bourbon but he couldn't afford to do that right now. He felt like a failure as a parent.

Harry was in the hospital and unless he could start getting some weight back, he'd have to stay hospitalized throughout the full course of chemotherapy.

Kelly was showing improvement in dealing with her physical disability but there were times she seemed frustrated with not being able to walk or even make it down the basement stairs.

Sometimes it all felt like too much for one person to deal with.

Standing and picking up his tools, Gibbs started working on the boat frame that filled most of the basement, sanding and drilling, getting lost in the woodwork that usually he found cathartic. And after a while, it seemed to work for a brief second before a loud, gruff voice at the top of the stairs brought him back to reality.

"Just when in the Sam Hill were you going to tell me, Probie?!" Mike Franks demanded as he clomped down the basement stairs, pausing when he reached the bottom. "I called Kelly about coming to visit for Harry's 15th birthday and she told me the kid's not only relapsed but he's lost his leg, too? Not to mention the fact that Kelly's in a wheelchair. Something else you never bothered to tell me about, by the way."

Gibbs said nothing in reply, but rather he sat back down again, with a deep sigh. After a while, he said, "I screwed up, Mike. I just…"

Mike pulled a stool over and sat down, looking his friend in the eye before he said, clearly, "Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you have _not_ screwed up. Shit happens. What matters is how we deal with it. And what happened to the Gibbs who swore he was going to help his son beat the cancer?" Seeing the look in Gibbs' eye, Mike's mouth tweaked in a smile. "Yeah, you heard me. You raised that boy, Jethro. He's become who he is because of you. If that doesn't make a father, I don't know what does. Same goes for Kelly. She's strong and brave and tough as nails and that's every bit because of you."

The sentiment was true, but it didn't make Gibbs feel any better. The truth of it was that with the arrival of the Weasleys, Gibbs had been wondering what he was supposed to do. Between Harry's friends and Sirius, Lupin, and Molly, the NCIS agent had felt unneeded and that hurt. "Harry doesn't need me," Gibbs said aloud as he stood and paced. "He's got his friends and godfather… Kelly's been staying with him almost every night."

"I never took you for being an idiot," Mike interrupted, angrily as he faced off with Gibbs. "And I never imagined you'd be down in this basement throwing yourself a pity party while your son is in the hospital fighting for his life. Now pull yourself together and let's go."

Gibbs knew better than to argue and followed his former boss back up the stairs and out of the house before getting in Mike's rental car.

xxxxxxxx

The first time he'd been sick, Harry had hated the vomiting and general feeling of 'ickiness' most of all. He felt awful and knew he looked even worse. But no one had seemed bothered by how he looked since it was just the toll the cancer took on him.

But now that Harry had something to keep the nausea and vomiting under control, he found himself really taking in how he looked. His hair was falling out more the past few days and he didn't think he'd have any left by his birthday. It was the hair loss that was the most painful, honestly. Sure, Harry could claim the loss of his leg was due to an accident or something. But his leg and lack of hair…? That combination was almost always the giveaway of a cancer patient.

Looking at the insides of his arms near the elbows, Harry studied the old, faded marks from additional IVs and countless blood draws. There was also the puncture scar from the basilisk fang in his second year and another scar from Wormtail taking his blood to resurrect Voldemort only months ago. But as he looked over the marks and scars in various stages of fading and healing one scar in particular made him think. It wrapped around his left elbow and lower arm and while the lower part was a bit jagged, the part around his elbow was surgical.

Four years ago, Harry had been heading into the basement of his house while on summer vacation and had leaned a little too far over the rail at the top of the steps and the wood had given way. He'd fallen on the boat frame that took up most of the floor and had cut himself on the wood and broken his arm in three places, necessitating several pins in the bones to repair the damage.

Sitting up a bit more in bed, Harry looked at where his right leg had been, touching the scars with one hand. The scars were part of him now, even if his leg was not, and years from now would tell the story, even if there was no other sign he'd ever been sick.

"You look like a young man who could use a sympathetic ear," Dr. Mallard said as he came into the room, taking a seat facing Harry, giving him a warm smile. Recognizing the look of reminiscence on the teenager's face, the ME asked, "Care to divulge the memory you were getting lost in?"

Harry shrugged at first, but after a moment, he replied, "Remember the summer before my 2nd year at Hogwarts when Dobby the house elf was trying to keep me from going back to school?"

Ducky laughed lightly. Yes, he remembered the creature. Dobby had tried several times to prevent Harry from returning to Hogwarts in order to keep the young boy safe from harm and the last attempt had resulted in Harry getting hurt in his basement. "Dobby was certainly a persistent fellow," Ducky commented. "In fact, he reminds me of…" Catching himself, he gestured to Harry who smiled in response. "My apologies, Mr. Potter. It's your tale, after all."

"I was at the top of the basement stairs," Harry said, getting into the story as he rubbed the scar on his arm. "I was leaning on the railing Gibbs had built and suddenly the whole thing gave way. I landed on the boat frame. I hit my head, cut _and_ broke my arm, and needed surgery to fix my elbow."

Nodding knowingly, Ducky studied Harry carefully. "If there is one thing I have learned in my time, my dear boy, it's that scars have a way of telling stories more truthfully than we remember." Glancing ever so briefly at Harry's right leg, he added, "I presume you have been wondering what your current scars will say about you later on." When Harry didn't reply for a while, Ducky scooted his chair forward a touch before leaning back, gesturing as he spoke. "I recall when Kelly and Gibbs first taught you how to ride a bicycle. You must have been about 6 at the time and by the end of a week, you were unstoppable, even though both of your knees were thoroughly scraped and bloody."

Standing up and putting a warm, comforting hand on the young man's shoulder as he spoke, Ducky said, proudly, "I am certain your scars will show you to be a warrior and a survivor, Mr. Potter." When Harry let out a long yawn, Ducky patted him on the back before watching him lay back down. "Get some rest, my lad. I will be by to see you later."

xxxxxx

Arriving at the hospital, Mike and Gibbs headed to the oncology ward and found Ducky talking with Dr. Willis.

"Hey, Duck," Gibbs said, briefly before turning to the oncologist. "How's Harry doing?"

Dr. Willis narrowed her eyes at Mike Franks, no doubt wondering if the older man was a family member or close friend. Catching the slight nod from Gibbs that it was okay to talk, the oncologist replied, "Well, thanks to those candies Harry's friends came up with, he's having a lot less nausea so he's able to keep food down. That's the good news," she added, a frown darkening her features. "The bad news is that I sent Harry for a couple head scans and the tumor behind his left eye has begun to grow back. The chemotherapy is slowing down the growth, but we still need to remove the malignant tissue."

Gibbs felt like the floor had fallen out from under him. "What now?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Ducky replied, grimly. "Harry's going for surgery in about three hours to remove the eye completely. He hasn't been in formed yet."

"I'll do it," Gibbs said, quietly, heading for Harry's room. Before he went in, he stopped as he saw Harry and Hermione sharing a kiss. They seemed to be surprised by it at first, since they pulled away somewhat quickly, but after a moment, they kissed again. This time more tender and relaxed, both with the look of teenage sweethearts who had just realized that they were in love.

Opening the door and stepping inside, Gibbs couldn't help the smile on his face as Harry and Hermione parted. Remembering why he was there, he felt the smile fade and when he noticed that Hermione looked like she was going to leave and let Gibbs and Harry talk in private, he gestured for her to stay.

Harry looked at Gibbs and knew it was more bad news. He'd suspected something was wrong since the MRI earlier but figured he was being paranoid. "What now?" he wanted to know as he felt Hermione take his hand and give it a comforting squeeze.

Gibbs sat on the edge of the bed and decided that it was best to be straightforward and honest. Keeping that in mind, he told Harry the latest news on his condition.

xxxx

While Gibbs and Harry talked, Mike went looking for Kelly who was outside at a table, an orange strawberry smoothie in front of her. "Hey, there, little darlin'," Mike said, jovially as he approached the young redhead.

"Mike!" Kelly exclaimed in delighted surprise. When the older man bent down to hug her, she returned the embrace warmly. As the retired agent sat down, she felt a bit relieved and said, "I'm so glad you're here."

"I just wish it was under better circumstances, honey," Mike said, regretfully. He wasn't sure of what else to say but he wanted to be supportive. "How are you doing? With what you're going through, I mean. I know you're having a hard time 'cause of Harry, but… How are you doing with everything else?"

Kelly was quiet for a moment before she started crying. It was the first time since Harry had relapsed that she'd been flat-out asked how she felt—not about Harry but her own disability.

When she was 12, the doctors had diagnosed her with Tibialis Posterior Atrophy and had informed her that the muscles in her legs would be getting weaker and weaker and eventually, she'd lose all muscle control, rendering her leg completely useless.

At first, Kelly had the focus of her father's attentions but as she started to see that her dad couldn't focus on her and his duties as an NCIS agent, she'd put her issues aside, burying her feelings and resolving to put the rest of her family first. When Harry had been diagnosed with cancer, Kelly knew that Harry not only needed her as a big sister but also as a surrogate mother and she'd tried to do everything her mother would have.

But now with Molly Weasley here, Kelly had begun to feel like maybe Harry didn't need her as much any more and while that did partly feel like a good thing, without anything else to focus on, Kelly had found herself dwelling more and more on her own physical issues.

How was she doing? The more Kelly thought about it, the more she found herself giving the same response. "Not so great, Mike," she said, aloud, as she sniffled a bit. "Not so great."


	7. Chapter 7

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So I very lightly touched on how Kelly feels about her physical disability at the very end of the previous chapter, but I really wanted to go into further detail as well as explain how Kelly came to feel that she had to be the emotional strength of the family.

Also, a shout out to two reviewers of this story and a reviewer of two of my other stories. First, for Teresa W and SeaBreeze2Ga, this chapter not only gets into what Mike Franks told Kelly at the end of the previous chapter but does bring in Jackson Gibbs.

Now, to a reviewer of my stories, 'The Bonds of Family' and its rewrite—SiriuslyPink—Since it has been pointed out to me that the idea of Team Harry using Harry's cancer to defeat Voldemort is not medically sound, I will be leaving that idea OUT of this story.

Chapter 7

* * *

_10 Years Ago_

From the time she was 4 years old, Kelly Anne Gibbs had wanted to be only one thing when she grew up—a United States Marine.

To her, the Marines were the ultimate heroes and in her eyes, her father was the best of all of them.

Kelly could imagine wearing the uniform and fighting alongside her dad as they eliminated any threat to their country and their family.

But that was the future.

When she was 8 years old, what she really wanted at that age was a brother or sister—someone she could play with and help take care of. Maybe a little sister who would come to her for advice on clothes or make-up when they got older. Or a little brother who would ask her for the best way to ask out a girl in school.

When Kelly's cousin, Harry Potter, came to live with her and her family, Kelly was as happy as could be and immediately considered the little dark-haired boy to be a good as a brother. And as Harry got older, the two were the closest of friends in addition to being family.

xxxxxxxx

Sitting in the doctor's office, Kelly felt worried as she sat with her dad and Harry. She knew her dad had been concerned that she'd had some trouble walking the past year but she'd tried to hide it by wrapping both ankles in ace bandages and wearing high-top sneakers. That had all helped at first, but the past few weeks, Kelly had started experiencing increased weakness in her legs and suddenly at 12 years old, she had a feeling in her gut that all of her future plans and dreams were about to come crashing down.

"I apologize for being late," Dr. Nola Bryce said as she entered the office. She knew the Gibbs family well and had treated Kelly and Harry since they were toddlers. Sitting down at her desk, she felt her heart ache as she looked at the three family members. Deciding to be straightforward, Nola looked from Gibbs and Harry to Kelly. "Kelly, I spoke with Dr. Fritz Vander, an orthopedist, about your case and he's reviewed the test results. And unfortunately, we do have a diagnosis."

"What's wrong with me?" Kelly asked, trying not to show how scared she really felt, especially seeing the worried looks on her dad's face and Harry's. She tried not to think of the worst case. What if it was something possibly fatal? She tried not to think the word 'cancer'.

"It's called Tibialis Posterior Atrophy," Nola explained as she held out a small stack of paper—about 10 pages. Looking at Gibbs, she went into further detail. "It's a muscle disorder that causes progressive weakness in the legs. It's a disease of stages. Stage 1 would be a change in gait. Stage 2 is further difficulty walking which requires leg braces for support. That's where Kelly is right now." After a moment or two to let everything sink in, Nola went on, looking at Kelly. "Eventually, its going to get harder for you to walk, even with the braces. At that point you'll need to start using crutches."

"Stage 3," Kelly said, looking at the information the doctor had given her. It was getting harder and harder for her to stay strong and not break down and start crying, but looking at her family, she couldn't let herself fall apart. Her dad was holding everything in himself and Harry looked like he wasn't sure what to say.

Gibbs had been sitting between his children and he put a hand on Harry's shoulder while gently squeezing Kelly's arm. Looking at the doctor, he knew he wouldn't like the answer to his question, but he asked anyway. "Stage 4?"

Nola watched as Kelly wordlessly handed the information packet to her father and replied, "Kelly's legs won't be able to support her and she won't be able to move them. It's a complete loss of mobility. She won't be able to walk and she'll have to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life."

Kelly forced back the tears brewing and nodded her understanding. But all she could think about was how much she wished her mother was there.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two years later, Kelly again found herself sitting in Dr. Bryce's office with her father and Harry. 6 weeks ago, Harry had been playing on the playground at school during recess when he'd fallen off the jungle gym. When the bruise on his leg hadn't gone away even after a month, Gibbs had taken Harry to the doctor who had proceeded to test for everything possible.

This time, however, Nola Bryce didn't enter the office alone which worried Kelly even more. "Jethro, Kelly, Harry…this is Dr. Grace Willis," Nola said, regret in her voice. "She's the chief pediatric oncologist at University Hospital. The x-rays showed a solid mass in Harry's right knee. We need to admit him right away and get a bone marrow biopsy to see how far the tumor is ingrained."

Kelly didn't know what to say. Harry had cancer? It didn't feel real. Sure, his knee was puffy and painful, but… Hugging her cousin, she tried to reassure him. "It's gonna be okay, Harry. I promise it's going to be okay."

"University Hospital is expecting Harry today," Grace said, quietly. "We'll get him admitted and once we have the biopsy results we'll know the best was to treat the cancer."

"Uh, I-I'll meet you there after school," Kelly said, standing and grabbing the corner of the desk as her legs felt weak. Chalking it up as a reaction to hearing about Harry's illness and her worries about what would be coming next, she gave her father a heartening smile when she saw the flash of worry on his face. "I'm okay," she said, more to reassure herself than her father.

But when she couldn't even make it to the door without her legs shaking, Kelly knew that she wasn't okay, no matter how much she wanted to be. Looking at Dr. Bryce as the doctor led her back to the empty chair, she felt another piece of her life breaking away. "Stage three, right?"

Those three words felt like someone had taken the knife in Gibbs' heart and twisted it sharply and he could see in his daughter's face that she felt exactly the same.

* * *

_14 Months Ago_

Finding jobs with good health insurance benefits and plenty of sitting was usually tricky but given that Kelly was pursuing a career as a librarian, the local library near NCIS headquarters was happy to hire her as a favor to Gibbs.

The job had been going well, although there were a few issues when Kelly was the only one available to reshelve the returned items since it was sometimes hard for her walk and push the library cart at the same time.

xxxx

On a beautiful morning in late May, Kelly was just finishing the reshelving when her left leg gave a sudden spasm. Letting out a sigh, she headed back towards the desk. The spasms were common, lately, and usually meant she'd been on her feet too long.

But before she could get to the counter where she'd rested her crutches, Kelly's legs buckled and she fell to the floor with a crash that brought the other librarians and several of the patrons running.

Bonnie Wright, the supervising librarian knelt down next to Kelly who had moved a bit so she was on her back. "Take it easy, sweetie," Bonnie advised, taking off the jacket she wore and folding it before gently sliding it under Kelly's head. Looking up, she was about to tell someone to call an ambulance when she noticed a high school student was already doing so. Turning back to Kelly, Bonnie asked, "Anything hurting or…?" She paused when she noticed the look of stunned horror on the younger woman's face. "What's wrong, honey?"

Kelly swallowed hard and felt the rest of her world crashing as she said in a choked voice, "I can't move my legs." She'd known it would be coming but saying the words out loud made it a cold reality.

About 6 minutes later, the paramedics arrived and took a quick history on Kelly before getting her on a stretcher before taking her to the waiting ambulance. Inside, she said nothing as she listened to the paramedics brief the hospital on her case. "22-year-old female, collapsed at work due to leg weakness caused by a muscle disorder. Heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing normal. Please advise that Dr. Fritz Vander needs to be paged per patient's request."

x

Once at the hospital, the doctors ordered x-rays and an MRI just in case Kelly had hit her head as she fell. When that had all come back clear, she was admitted and just as the nurses got her settled, Dr. Vander arrived. "Hey, Kelly," he said, simply. "So… How are you feeling?"

Kelly let out a long sigh and when she felt the tears in her eyes, she just let them fall. "I can't move my legs," she said, quietly. "I-I keep trying, but…" She cried for a moment or two but as she started thinking she remembered that Harry had been called and would probably be there soon. Sniffling, she sat up and tried to shift back to her usual strong, determined self. "So, what now?"

Fritz had been hoping for a longer emotional response but he also knew that given the troubles with her family, Kelly always tried to be the rock of stability for her father and cousin. Keeping that in mind, he sat on the edge of the bed and outlined what the young woman's life would be from that point on. "Tomorrow, you'll be starting with physical and occupational therapists on getting around in a wheelchair as well as getting in and out of bed and the bathroom."

Nodding her understanding, Kelly just said, "Okay. Um… so what else do I need to know? I mean, it's just my legs, right? It's not like being paralyzed or something, right?"

Shaking his head in response, Fritz explained, "Not exactly. With paraplegics, they have no sensation or motor function below the level of injury. That means they can't walk, feel anything below the waist, or control bladder and bowel systems. In your case, Kelly, Tibialis Posterior Atrophy just means that you have no motor function in your legs. There may be the occasional muscle cramps or spasms since your legs will still be receiving signals from your brain, but the majority of the muscle control will be gone."

It didn't sound quite as bad as being fully paralyzed, but the more Kelly heard, the more she hated her current situation. Okay, so she'd still be able to control when she had to go to the bathroom, thank God, but there were still a few similarities to being a paraplegic. She'd have to be careful about pressure sores with sitting all the time—something she'd already had a nasty experience with once as a kid when she'd first had to start wearing the leg braces.

"Kelly?"

Looking at the doorway, Kelly saw Harry with Ziva David, Tony DiNozzo, and Dr. Donald Mallard. "Hey, guys," she said, trying to sound as positive as she could. Looking at her cousin, Kelly could see that the teenager was worried and she tried to sound confident as she looked at Dr. Vander. "So how soon can I go home?"

"I'm afraid it won't be that simple," Fritz replied, his tone solemn. "You're looking at 6-8 weeks of in-patient physical therapy at least. And then long term PT and OT as an out-patient."

Kelly said nothing as she let that soak in. And suddenly, she felt her emotional walls start to crumble. Looking away, she didn't want Harry to see her lose it.

Catching Ducky's eye, Tony gestured that he, Ziva, and Harry should give the ME some time alone with Kelly. Dr. Vander followed the group outside, closing the door behind him.

When she was sure that the others were out of earshot, Kelly turned to Ducky and before she knew it, she was crying openly. When Ducky sat down next to her, pulling her into a comforting embrace, she clung to him, sobbing hard. "How long have you been holding all this inside, my dear?" Ducky asked, quietly.

Kelly continued to cry, but as she did, she told the older man everything. "Since Mom died. You know, it was so hard for Dad and Harry was so little, he barely remembers… One night, Dad… I found him in the basement and he had his service weapon in his hands and I thought he was going to…"

"Oh, my…" Ducky whispered, quietly, as he held Kelly.

She pulled away and shifted positions in the hospital bed. Sniffling as she came to the end of her crying jag, she went on. "After that, I was so afraid that Dad _would_ try and kill himself that I tried to be something he could hold on to. I told him how much I loved him and how much Harry and I needed him. Ever since, I tried to be his anchor."

Kelly gave a light tug on the silver chain she wore around her neck, showing Ducky the Marine Corps emblem pendant on it. "When I was 12 and I first found out about my leg disorder and that I'd never get to be a Marine, Dad gave me this and s-said that it was our family symbol."

Ducky took the pendant gently as Kelly leaned forward and he smiled, warmly. "A fitting emblem of the Gibbs family," he agreed.

"The globe for my family and friends since you guys are my whole world," Kelly explained. "The eagle for Dad, since he's always been there for me and Harry, watching over us…" She felt a choke in her voice as she studied the anchor on the pendant. There were times—like the past few weeks, for instance—that she wished she wasn't her family's anchor. Sometimes, she wished she had someone she could go to when she needed a rock.

xxxxx

A week later, Kelly had just returned to her hospital room after a long day of physical therapy when she had an unexpected visitor. "Grandpa," she said surprised when Jackson Gibbs entered the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Harry called me," Jackson replied as he pulled up a chair and sat down with a weary sigh. "He's worried about you. And he said that you didn't want to tell Leroy about what's going on." He gave his granddaughter a look and when she didn't say anything in response, he said, "You're too young to have the world on your shoulders, Kelly. You need to let others carry the load sometimes."

But it wasn't that simple, Kelly thought, remorsefully. Over the years, she'd built up her walls so much that the idea of letting others help her was a very foreign concept. "How do I do that?" she asked, hoping her grandfather had the answer.

Jackson shrugged, not sure of the best thing to say. But thinking for a moment, he said, "Start by thinking of yourself first. Focus on the physical therapy and let everyone else worry about the rest."

Nodding, Kelly tried to put herself in that state of mind, but inside, she couldn't stop thinking about Harry and how her father was going to feel when he finally came back from Mexico.

* * *

_Present Day_

While Gibbs talked with Harry about the teenager's second surgery to remove his eye, Mike Franks went looking for Kelly. He'd always had a soft spot for the young lady and he had a feeling that she could use someone to talk to about everything. After checking the cafeteria, a nurse told him that Kelly had bought a drink a short while ago before heading outside. Sure enough, Mike found her at a table outside, an orange strawberry smoothie in front of her. "Hey, there, little darlin'," Mike said, jovially as he approached the young redhead.

"Mike!" Kelly exclaimed in delighted surprise. When she'd talked to the retired NCIS agent on the phone a few days ago, she hadn't even considered the possibility of Mike Franks coming up to DC. But now that he was here, Kelly was incredibly happy to see him. When the older man bent down to hug her, she returned the embrace warmly and when Mike sat down, she said, "I'm so glad you're here."

"I just wish it was under better circumstances, honey," Mike said, regretfully. He wasn't sure of what else to say given the circumstances but he wanted to be as supportive as possible. Thinking of something he'd had in the back of his mind for a while, Mike asked, "How are you doing? With what you're going through, I mean. I know you're having a hard time 'cause of Harry, but… How are you doing with everything else?"

Kelly was quiet for a moment before she started crying. It was the first time since Harry had relapsed that she'd been flat-out asked how she felt—not about Harry but her own disability. The weight of everything coupled with her memories of the past 10 years hit her like a flood and instead of pushing everything back down like she usually did, Kelly let everything wash over her.

She remembered when she was 12 and the doctors had first diagnosed her with Tibialis Posterior Atrophy, informing her that the muscles in her legs would get weaker and weaker and eventually, she'd lose all muscle control, rendering her legs completely useless.

At first, Kelly had the focus of her father's attentions but as she started to see that her dad couldn't focus on her and his duties as an NCIS agent, she'd put her issues aside, burying her feelings and resolving to put the rest of her family first. When Harry had been diagnosed with cancer, Kelly knew that Harry not only needed her as a big sister but also as a surrogate mother and she'd tried to do everything her mother would have.

But now with Molly Weasley here, Kelly had begun to feel like maybe Harry didn't need her as much anymore and while that did partly feel like a good thing, without anything else to focus on, Kelly had found herself dwelling more and more on her own physical issues.

How was she doing? The more Kelly thought about it, the more she found herself giving the same response. "Not so great, Mike," she said, aloud, as she sniffled a bit. "Not so great." After a while, she let out a long sigh and added, "I've been trying to be tough for so long… and I just don't know how long I can do it."

In all the years he'd known her, Mike Franks had never known Kelly Gibbs to really break down. She'd always demonstrated the strength, drive, and determination of a Marine and when Gibbs had first told him that his only daughter's lifelong ambition was to join the Corps when she was old enough, Mike was certain the young girl would do the Marines and her father proud.

But looking at Kelly as an adult, Mike could see that she seemed older than 22 years old. "I know you've been through the wringer, darlin' and I wish I knew how to help you, Harry, and your old man through this. All I can say is that you are one of the toughest people I've ever known but part of being strong is knowing when to step back and let others take over."


	8. Chapter 8

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, you know how I work, folks—high emotion, short chapter. This time around the bulk of the emotion comes from Sirius's take on what's going on.

And updates will be slower on my stuff—or at least the chapters might be shorter—since I'm starting to have wrist problems again.

Chapter 8

* * *

"I look like Mad-Eye Moody," Harry said, gloomily as he looked at his reflection in the window of his hospital room. His left eye—or rather where his eye had been—was heavily bandaged and the socket felt even weirder than the end of his right leg. To make matters worse, the last of his hair had finally fallen out the previous day and just that morning, the nurses noticed that he'd spiked a fever.

Sitting next to Harry, Mike Franks wanted to give the kid a smile and reassure him everything would be okay. But looking at the teenager, Mike knew that would be a lie. Nothing would be okay again and even if Harry did go into remission again, he'd still be missing his leg and his eye. "Thought you said he was some hotshot dark wizard catcher," Mike replied, curiously. "Could be worse," he added, lamely.

Harry looked at his uncle's former boss and was surprised when he found himself laughing. After a moment, he said, "You suck at the reassurance thing, you know." When Mike smiled, Harry lay back against the pillows behind him, feeling more drained than before. Still, the teenager went on. "Quidditch career is out. I could maybe fly with one leg but now… What am I going to do?"

Mike thought for a moment before an idea came to him. "You could teach." But before Harry could respond to that notion, the kid's eye closed and after a few moments, his breathing evened out, indicating that Harry had fallen asleep.

When Harry was snoring softly, Mike left the room and headed out into the hallway. He needed a drink and a cigarette but glancing back at Harry, he thought better of it. The teenager had been healthy and happy until cancer struck him and the more he thought about his own bad habits, Mike wondered what he'd been doing to his own body over the years. One day, he could be lying in a hospital bed, hooked to drips and staring death in the face. It wasn't a pretty picture.

"How's Harry?" Sirius Black asked as he came up to the window, peeking in at his godson. Not getting a reply, the wizard gave a dry smile. "That bad, huh?"

Mike shrugged before looking at Harry. "Wish I knew how Probie dealt with this all those years ago," he said, ruefully, thinking of the party he'd started planning before finding out about everything. Since he didn't get to 'El Norte' all that much these days, he missed a lot of the teenager's birthdays which was a shame because Harry was just about the closest thing Mike had to kids of his own.

"As do I," Sirius replied, looking away. As the two men went to a quiet corner of the lounge, he added, "I was out of contact with Harry until last year. He never told me about being sick when he was a child and…" Sirius felt tears in his eyes and after a moment, he said, "I'm afraid I'm going to lose him."

It was a sentiment the former NCIS agent understood all too well. He loved Harry like his own kid and it hurt to see the teenager in such a mess.

xxxxx

The morning of July 31st was hot and humid when Harry woke up, and he groaned as he felt his entire body ache—an aggressive pounding feeling that radiated throughout his whole body. Closing his good eye, he couldn't help crying as hugged his pillow tighter. Feeling someone touch his forehead, Harry withdrew. "Hurts…" he murmured, quietly. He heard beeping and after what felt like an eternity, he felt the pain start to recede, allowing him to slip back into blissful unconsciousness.

x

Once Dr. Willis adjusted Harry's pain medication drip, she looked at Gibbs, Kelly, and Sirius. "His fever's broken," she said, with a tight smile. "And he should be asleep for another few hours."

Gibbs nodded, quietly, thinking of the party planned for early evening. He hoped Harry would be up for it. Watching as Dr. Willis changed the eye patch and cleaned the empty eye socket, Gibbs couldn't look at his nephew's face. But when he looked away, his eye was drawn to the empty spot under the blankets where Harry's leg had been. How much more would the cancer take from him? "What about Harry's treatments?" Gibbs wanted to know. The doctors had had to dial back Harry's chemotherapy while the teenager was dealing with the fever and the removal of his eye but now that Harry was getting better, that most likely meant an increase in the chemo meds.

Dr. Willis shrugged uncertainly at that as she replied, "Right now Harry's going to be having a break from chemo. We're going to run some scans and blood tests and see where everything stands." With a hopeful tone, she added, "If everything looks okay, we'll start Harry on a post-chemo cocktail for 4 months. If things aren't okay, we'll start Harry on a second round of chemotherapy." After a moment, though, the oncologist looked thoughtful and she asked, "I know you said Harry goes to a private school in Scotland. I was wondering if arrangements had been made for him to receive all necessary treatments."

Gibbs nodded in confirmation. "Harry's headmaster is taking care of everything."

"And Dad and I are going to be staying in the nearby village just in case," Kelly added, looking at Harry, tears in her eyes. Without bothering to wipe them away, she looked at the others and said, "Come on. We've got a birthday party to put together."

xxx

When Harry woke again feeling better than he had earlier, he nearly jumped when he saw that the entire room was filled with people. "What…?"

"Happy birthday, Harry," Hermione said before giving him a lingering kiss on the lips, eliciting a long "Oooooh" from the others.

"Should we have made this an engagement party as well?" Fred asked, grinning as he lightly elbowed Fred.

Grinning ear to ear, Harry shook his head and turned his attention to the mountain of presents in the corner. "So, are we doing cake first, or can I open now?" Ziva smiled obligingly as she handed over the first group of gifts after Harry had sat up more in bed. Opening the first present from Ziva, Harry found a small silver knife in a sheath. "Thank you," he said, giving her a brief hug.

Next was a portable DVD player and a collection of movies from Tony who had assured Harry that both would still work at Hogwarts thanks to some special magical adjustments. Then there was a new laptop computer from McGee with similar adjustments.

When it came time for Ron Weasley to hand over his gift, he hesitated, suddenly worried Harry might think of it as insensitive. "You know I remember when we first met on the train you were really self-conscious about not having hair. And I won't be offended if you tell me you hate this, but…" Handing the present over, he watched, anxiously, as Harry opened it, revealing an ordinary looking wizard's hat. "Hermione helped me," Ron explained. "It's supposed to change form depending on what kind of mood you're in."

Harry put the hat on and with a small 'pop' it turned into a red Panama hat with gold trim. "How do I look?" he asked, curiously. When the others approved, he started going through the rest of his birthday gifts which included a journal from Ducky, an IOU for a week down in Mexico from Mike Franks, and a photo album of his parents when they were kids from Lupin and Sirius.

When it came to Gibbs and Kelly, Kelly held out a homemade CD and said, "It's a bunch of the songs Mom used to sing to you when you were little. I-I thought you might want it for when you're at school."

Harry took the CD and hugged the young woman he considered his sister before turning to the only father he'd ever really known. "I don't need anything from you," Harry insisted, setting aside the small, simple package Gibbs offered. "You already gave me the best gift when you, Shannon, and Kelly brought me into your family. I love you… Dad."

As his godson unwrapped a set of custom-made dogtags, Sirius felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He knew that Harry didn't know his father and he knew that a big part of that was because what had happened after Sirius had left the Potter house to hunt down Peter Pettigrew. But none of that took the sting away from the fact that Harry considered Gibbs to be more of a father than James Potter.

Before everyone could get to the cake Ziva had brought, Harry started nodding off and after a while, the crowd left the room, leaving Sirius alone with Harry. When the teenager was fast asleep, Sirius sat next to the bed and after the longest time, started to speak. "I remember when James and Lily brought you home from the hospital," Sirius began, leaning back in his chair. "James told me I was your godfather and that he wanted me to look out for you… to protect you. Some job I did, eh? I let you down, Harry, and for that I'm sorry. I should have put you first instead of my own vendetta. Maybe if I had…"

Wiping away tears, Sirius sniffed and continued. "I know Gibbs is as good a father as James was… maybe even better. But hearing you call Gibbs 'Dad' hurt so much, Prongslet. And I know that you couldn't have known that, but… You should have been calling James 'Dad'." After another moment, the older wizard sighed as he watched Harry sleep. "I don't know how I fit into your life anymore, Harry. And I don't know how to help you through all this. It hurts that you and I aren't close and I'd give anything to fix that."

Sirius gave a start when he felt someone touch his shoulder and turning in his seat, he found Ducky standing there looking concerned as well as reflective. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," Sirius apologized as the NCIS medical examiner sat down on the other side of Harry's bed. "When Harry was 6 months old, Lily went out for an evening with friends and James and I were alone with the baby. We both tried to get Harry to stop crying but nothing worked. We had to wait for Lily to get home before Harry would go to sleep."

Ducky thought about that for a while and as he considered what he'd overheard, he said, "When Shannon died, Dumbledore wanted to take Harry away from Jethro and Kelly and place the young child in the care of Lily's other sister."

"I didn't know that," Sirius admitted, sitting up and looking curious at the new revelation.

"Both Jethro and Kelly were determined to keep Harry from going to the Dursleys," Ducky went on. "They were willing to sacrifice everything to keep their family together."

The words stung but Sirius couldn't deny the truth behind them. It was true—he'd gone looking for revenge on Peter Pettigrew for the deaths of James and Lily instead of fighting for custody of his godson. And even if he'd lost, he could have moved to the states and still have been a presence in Harry's life.

But the part that hurt the most was that no matter how Sirius played the 'what-ifs' in his head, there were some very inescapable truths. Primarily the fact that when it really came down to it, Gibbs was a wonderful father to Harry and because he was a muggle and a federal agent, Harry had had a much more grounded upbringing that he ever would have had being raised by James who would have most likely spoiled his son constantly.


	9. Chapter 9

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So I'd like to bring up something that I admit I usually do and actually haven't with this story which is explanation of medical details and whatnot regarding Harry. Namely, the usual round of questions involving the permanent removal of Harry's leg and eye and the new query of why not use hair regrowth potions. All this is explained in the chapter.

Now as to responding to a review from Shadowknight0001 about this story not being a real crossover because of a lack of magical elements to this story. Which is totally true and a completely valid point. But when it comes to HP stories and dealing with severe injuries or illness… I don't want magical fixes. That's _way_ too easy and while I realize it would be staying true to canon it just feels like a cop-out to me as a writer. Besides, even in the books, magic does _NOT_ always fix everything.

I like writing people and emotions—especially with this kind of story. So right now there's relatively little magic. Next chapter when Harry goes back to Hogwarts, there'll be more of the magical stuff.

* * *

Chapter 9

While Ducky and Sirius sat with Harry in the hospital, Hermione went to see Gibbs at his home.

Standing at the top of the stairs, Hermione looked down to the basement and watched for a moment as Gibbs worked on the boat frame that filled most of the room. Walking down the steps, Hermione's eye was caught by a framed photo on the workbench to the left. Walking over, she picked up the picture of Gibbs with Shannon, Kelly, and a 2-year-old Harry who seemed to be trying to scale his uncle's shoulders.

"That was taken just before I shipped out. Before Shannon died," Gibbs said, glancing at Hermione for the briefest of moments.

"It's amazing how much Kelly looks like you," Hermione said, putting the picture back before turning to Gibbs. "I mean, she looks a bit like Shannon, but she's your daughter through and through."

Gibbs stopped working on the boat and looked up at Hermione before walking over and picking up the picture, remembering the day it was taken during the last real vacation he'd had. "This was taken in Mexico while I was on leave from the Marines. It was a few weeks before…" Picking up his tools again, Gibbs resumed working as he asked, "Can I help you with something, Hermione?"

Hermione sat down by the workbench, pulling a few pieces of notebook paper out of her pocket as she said, "I did some additional research. I wanted to know if it would be possible to regrow Harry's leg once he was completely done with chemo."

Giving the teenager his full attention, Gibbs pulled over two saw horses and sat down on one while gesturing to Harry's girlfriend that she should do the same. "And?" He asked, curiously.

"It wouldn't work," Hermione replied, sadly. "You see, when a witch or wizard is diagnosed with cancer, it's complicated by the fact that magical blocks begin to develop to help prevent metastasis or the spreading of the cancer. Of course, it doesn't always work that way." Learning that part had made Harry's situation even worse in Hermione's book. Especially because not only was her best friend and boyfriend likely going to spend the rest of his life without his leg, but his eye as well. "Also," she went on, thinking of the other little bit of information she'd found as far as Harry's treatment and the side effects of chemotherapy. "I found out that hair regrowth potions aren't going to be really effective for a while since they tend to clash with the drugs Harry's currently on. And I know there are blood replenishing potions to help with Harry's anemia issues, but those have to be taken on an hourly basis. Regular blood transfusions can be done every other day."

Looking over the information Hermione handed over, Gibbs was astonished that the teenager was able to amass such a large amount of information and yet condense it into a simpler form. It was something Shannon would have done if she'd still been alive. Gibbs could imagine Shannon researching everything about Harry's disease and not stopping until she had the answers she wanted.

But as intelligent as Hermione Granger was, Gibbs also knew that she was a scared teenager who was watching someone she cared deeply for—someone she loved—fight a battle that he might not be able to win.

It was something that Gibbs had been avoiding thinking about but that was ever-present in his mind—Harry could die. Even with the chemotherapy, blood transfusions to boost his cell counts, and every other treatment, Harry might not be strong enough to beat the cancer. The very thought—the very _idea_—felt like a knife in his heart.

Seeing that Hermione was no doubt having the exact same thoughts and feelings, Gibbs stood and grabbed a sander as he said, "Come here a sec." Puzzled, Hermione did as told and Gibbs took her hand, placing the sander in it and then turning her so she faced the boat. "Sand _with_ the grain of the wood," Gibbs said, smiling a bit at Hermione's confused expression as she looked over her shoulder at him.

But after a moment, the teenager did as instructed and started sanding, the easy back and forth motion quickly becoming natural to her. As Hermione worked on the boat, Gibbs could see her start to relax slightly as she no doubt let the sounds of the sandpaper drown out every thought and worry in her mind. Going back to his own work, Gibbs thought of something and asked, "How are you doing?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied, quickly, although the answer was as honest as possible. She hadn't really considered her own feelings lately. Instead, she'd found herself getting swept into the waves of emotions of everyone else. But as she sanded, she realized that her frantic and constant thoughts were becoming quieter. What was it about the simple act of sanding that seemed so… calming? "I just feel helpless," Hermione said at last. "Like I'm just standing on the sidelines watching my best friend go through Hell as he's fighting for his life and I can't do anything to help."

"You are helping," Gibbs assured her. He knew the feeling well since it was the same way he always felt watching Harry go through chemo. "You're being there for him."

"Doesn't feel like enough," Hermione muttered, dejectedly as she sanded the sides of the boat, occasionally touching the wood with her bare hand to be sure it was smooth enough. The past 4 years, she'd always been able to directly help Harry face whatever challenge he'd come across, even if she hadn't exactly been there at the time. But Harry's illness was something that he had to confront alone.

They worked for a while before Gibbs brought up something he'd been thinking on for the past few years. "What about Kelly?" he wanted to know. "Is there some sort of magical fix that could give her her legs back?"

Hermione set her sander down before pacing for a moment. "I tried looking for something but there didn't seem to be any magical information on Kelly's leg disorder. Even the medical information is sketchy." Sitting down on one of the sawhorses, she added, "I wish I knew more."

Wondering if he should broach the subject, Gibbs thought about Harry's girlfriend. Hermione was not just the smartest witch of her age, but one of the smartest people Gibbs had ever met in his life. In fact, he often wondered if her intellectual savvy would rival McGee _and _Abby combined. "So what are your plans after Hogwarts?"

The question caught her off guard for a moment and as Hermione stood and walked around the boat frame, she said, "I don't know. I actually haven't thought about it, honestly." It was something she was a little ashamed of, really. Often times Hermione felt like everyone expected her to be one of those people who knew from age 3 what they wanted to do when they grew up. And before she started going to Hogwarts, that had been true. Hermione had wanted to follow in her parents' footsteps and go into the medical field. Upon starting her magical education, however, she'd started wondering if being a witch meant that she _had_ to choose a career dealing with magic. That part of her future always made her think but she'd never come to a definitive decision.

* * *

Harry's most recent blood tests had still shown abnormal cells and as a result, Dr. Willis had ordered another round of chemo which would hopefully be finished by Thanksgiving. With a little luck, Harry would be able to enjoy Christmas fully in remission again.

At least, that was hope.

But with the prospect of returning to Hogwarts while still in treatment, Harry felt a fresh wave of worry as he wondered what the general reaction would be once he started his 5th year. True, he was doing okay walking with the new prosthetic leg, but it would be another month or two before he would be able to go all day without removing it and then there the stairs to consider.

And as Harry looked at his reflection in the window of his hospital room, he remembered the first journey to Hogwarts. Although he'd been nervous given that he still had the obvious signs of finishing chemotherapy, once he'd met Ron, Fred, George, and Hermione he'd started to relax and by the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station, Harry knew he'd found his first true friends.

It was thinking of his friends that made Harry realize that he didn't really have anything to worry about…at least on that front. Hermione and the Weasleys were sure to keep an eye on him and Kelly and Gibbs would be joining him at Hogwarts for a few months.

Trying to focus on his wealth of support from friends and family, Harry closed his good eye and managed to fall into a fairly uneventful sleep.


End file.
